Bhubaneswar: In a major crackdown on underage student driving in Odisha, the State Road Transport Authority (STA) today launched a special drive taking strict action against violators along with registered owners of the vehicles found driven by them. The drive will continue from March 28 till April first week and a hefty fine of Rs 25,000 will be imposed for driving without licence. So far, as many as seven youths from various districts including the State Capital have reportedly been booked for traffic rule violation on the first day. While two minors were fined in Rayagada, two others were booked in Sambalpur, as many in Padampur in Bargarh district and one in Bhubaneswar. All of them were slapped fine of Rs 25,000 each by the respective RTOs.

The identities of the minors, however, were not revealed.

In Bhubaneswar, the minor, a student of Maharishi College of Natural Law, was booked for driving a two wheeler without helmet. He was reportedly on his sway to appear for an examination.

Official sources said the special drive will focus on areas near schools and colleges.

Additional commissioner of enforcement of STA Lalmohan Sethi informed that  violators will be awarded three year jail term and case will be lodged against the registered owner of the vehicle. "We had launched a special crackdown on drunken driving last week and 767 cases reported.  In 2021, as many as 132 minor boys and 23 minor girls died in separate road accidents. Drunken driving, over-speeding and violating traffic norms are the major reasons for road accident fatalities. Now this special drive with the help of police will crackdown on underage driving in school and college areas," he added.