August 05, 2008	Tuesday	Sha'aban 2, 1429

HYDERABAD, Aug 4: Hyder-abad DPO Dr Najaf Quli Mirza asked transporters and bus owners on Monday to deploy guards in buses during travel and install secret lights and alarms to caution police if a robbery was taking place inside the vehicle.

In a meeting with transporters here he proposed seven points for the safety of travellers on different routes emanating from Hyderabad to other cities.

He said that police would check after a month whether the safeguards were being followed. The violators would be taken to task according to law, he warned.

The DPO urged the transporters to maintain record of bus drivers and conductors, check luggage of each and every passenger at the bus stops through metal detectors before they board the bus and ensure that they must have their original national identity cards (NICs).

He said that the travellers should be issued tickets carrying their NIC numbers and time limit for inter-city travel should be done away with to discourage reckless driving.

The transporters assured the DPO of full cooperation and said that they had already arranged checking of passengers through metal detectors at bus stands.

They said that they would ensure that the safeguards were implemented as they, too, believed in the safety of passengers and protection of their vehicles.

They sought cooperation from Motorway Police officials and put forward some proposals to DPO.