RAWALPINDI: The traffic police have started to crackdown on motorcyclists doing tricks such as one-wheeling, and have detained dozens of individuals, after a motorcyclist died on Murree Road due to over-speeding.

Motorcyclists who were picked up by the traffic police were brought to police check posts where they were reprimanded for their actions on the roads, one-wheeling and endangering their lives and the lives of others.

“Police don’t want to register cases against such young boys and send them to jail, as it would spoil their careers and give them a bad reputation. They don’t realise that one-wheeling is dangerous to them as well as to the lives of others,” a senior traffic department official said.

He said that while cases were not registered against them, the motorcyclists’ parents were called to the check posts.

They were handed over to their guardians on personal sureties that they would not do it again.

Young motorcyclists can often be found gathered at Chandni Chowk engaging in such tricks, particularly in Ramazan and after midnight when traffic on the roads has decreased.

Sheikh Suleman, a Committee Chowk resident, told Dawn that he had just gone to bed when he heard the roar of motorcycle engines. When he came out onto Murree Road, he saw a squad of motorcyclists, none of whom were wearing headlights or had front or back lights, one-wheeling.

Over the years, it has been observed that whenever the traffic police attempt to stop motorcyclists from one-wheeling, they have retaliated and sometimes fought with the police and thrown stones at police vans. Police have had to call for reinforcements to control these situations.

Since the beginning of Ramazan, young motorcyclists assemble on Chandni Chowk, Murree Road, after midnight and begin one-wheeling towards Faizabad on modified motorcycles.

One such motorcyclist, Muneed Ahmed, told Dawn one-wheeling is a sport, and the government should provide a racing track on which those interested can attempt it, rather than doing so on the city’s road.

Senior Traffic Officer Iftikharul Haq has constituted squads of traffic wardens to check one-wheeling and over-speeding, particularly on Murree Road.

He has directed staff to impound all motorcycles in one-wheeling or car drivers doing stunts in the cantonment areas.

A young man was killed, and his passenger was seriously injured, after their motorcycle crashed into a pillar of the elevated metro bus track near Liaqat Bagh on Saturday.

Police said Adnan Bhatti, 28, was a salesman at a store in Saddar, and was on his way home with a colleague, Nabeel Tariq, just before sunset when his vehicle crashed into the pillar due to speeding.

Bhatti was killed on the spot, while Mr Tariq was injured.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2016