'I look good,' says man after challan for no helmet; here's Pune police's reply

A man in Pune who was fined for not wearing a helmet while riding a motorcycle tweeted a photo of the fine and exchanged some hilarious banter with the Pune Police. 

“Thank you, Pune City Police. I look good. Will pay the challan though," entrepreneur Melvin Cherian tweeted. In response to his tweet, the Police wrote, "Sure. P.S: A black helmet will go very well with that nice black jacket though." Cherian then politely replied, "Yes Sir."

People frequently tweet police departments about challans, and the police typically respond with concrete evidence of their traffic law violations.

Notably, the Pune police recently declared on Twitter that they had started a special campaign to take legal action against motorcycles with modified silencers that generate a lot of noise pollution.

The Pune police have been running Twitter campaigns about a variety of topics ever since the start of the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Others are devoted to capturing the lighter and more candid moments from the police deployment, while some series use memes, hashtags, and trending topics to raise awareness about Covid-appropriate behaviour.

Recently, a Twitter user challenged Bengaluru Traffic Police to provide evidence of his traffic violation in October of this year, only to have them deliver damning proof within minutes, leaving him red-faced.

A challan was issued to the user, Felix Raj, for failing to wear a helmet. He made the decision to contest the fine, but his deception backfired when Bengaluru Traffic Police posted a CCTV image of him operating a scooter without a helmet.

People have been introduced to various policing practices through Twitter campaigns, including police transportation, police communication, beat marshals, dog squads, quick response teams (QRTs), filing of formal complaints (FIRs), and anti-eve teasing squad, among others. Other campaigns focus on fundamental safety and security issues like drug abuse, crimes against women, children, and the elderly, as well as cybercrimes.