MUMBAI: After chief minister Devendra Fadnavis recently ordered the formation of a Special Task Force (STF) on the Samruddhi Mahamarg to crack down on organised crime gangs targeting long-haul drivers, freight operators across the state have urged the government to make the STF a permanent fixture.Trucking bodies are demanding a dedicated 24×7 Samruddhi emergency and crime helpline, along with a mobile application and WhatsApp SOS service that automatically transmits real-time GPS coordinates to the nearest police station after a robbery.Transporters have also sought comprehensive CCTV surveillance, mapping of crime hotspots and deployment of Quick Response Teams (QRTs) at vulnerable stretches.“Truck drivers have effectively been turned into ATMs,” said Bal Malkit Singh of the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC).Explaining the modus operandi and plight of drivers, he said, “Gangs arrive in two cars, overtake a truck and block it. Around eight to 10 armed men get down, accost the driver, assault him and loot cash, mobile phones, batteries, spare tyres and diesel. Worse, when victims seek assistance, patrol vans often penalise them with no-parking fines instead of helping, directing stranded drivers to distant police stations to file an FIR.”Interstate fleet operators pointed out that most incidents go unreported due to bureaucratic apathy and fear of delays. They stressed that the STF must thoroughly dismantle the organised syndicates operating along the expressway to ensure it functions as a genuinely secure, tension-free freight corridor.Relief for stranded fleet over registration discrepanciesIn a separate development, over 50,000 commercial vehicles stranded across Maharashtra due to name mismatches between Registration Certificates (RC) and Aadhaar profiles are set to resume operations.The automated Vahan portal had blocked processing due to naming inconsistencies after earlier manual exemptions were revoked.Transport authorities have now issued fresh relief, permitting operators to apply directly to their respective RTOs for documentation corrections validated against Aadhaar, clearing the bureaucratic bottleneck.
