A stand-off between the Motor Vehicles department (MVD) and contract carriage bus operators over the All India Tourist Permit (AITP) hit a flash point on Monday with the MVD authorities seizing a bus of Robin Travels while operating a service to Coimbatore.
The service which began from Pathanamthitta at 5 a.m. was intercepted at Ranni by a battery of MVD officials en route. Citing violation of the MV Act 66 (1), they seized the bus and later shifted it to the Armed Reserve Police camp here.
A video footage of the episode, live-streamed through the official social media page of the bus operator, soon went viral and triggered a torrent of reactions as it was for the second time in two months that the service was being intercepted. Earlier last month, the MVD had cancelled the vehicle’s fitness certificate while operating on the same route.
