Buy first-aid kit or face challan

ALAUR, Sirhind-Ludhiana Road: Shell out Rs 100 for a first-aid kit, which is for Rs 60 at the most, or get challaned. That''s the choice commuters on this route are being asked to make by the Punjab police.
Following the high court directive making first-aid kits compulsory in vehicles, the Punjab police have devised this new way of "blackmailing" commuters to ensure that the ruling is enforced.Although these kits are being sold by a private party, do not be surprised if a Punjab police constable stops you and forces you to buy one.
The kit contains a small packet of cotton, which is available for Rs 10 in the market, a bandage, which can be bought for Rs 3, five tablets of a pain-killer, Diclo-P, which would not cost more than Rs 2.50, a small pair of scissors (Rs 5), an antiseptic liquid (Rs 19) and a microbicidal water-soluble Povidone-Iodine ointment (Rs 20). But thanks to the "bold initiative" of the Punjab police, people are being forced to buy the kit for Rs 100.
A police official said the police were only enforcing the directive.
"If the vehicle does not have a first-aid kit, we can issue a memo to the offender under the Motor Vehicles Act," said the official. But he did concede that the police cannot force anyone into buying the kit from a specified person or party.