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 Rufaro Winter, Chronicle Reporter

POLICE in Bulawayo say they are finalising dockets for owners of the 140 vehicles that were impounded for defying lockdown regulations meant to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Government in March last year banned private public’ service operators as part of measures to contain the pandemic.

All commuter omnibus operators must register under the Zupco franchise to be allowed to ferry passengers.

Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Abednico Ncube yesterday said the owners will appear in court in the coming days.

He said various government departments are involved in the clearance of the cars.

“Some of these cars have offenses with the Vehicle Inspectorate Department and the city council so we are compiling the dockets so that they can start attending court. The process will be long as we have a huge number of impounded vehicles and we cannot produce documents at the same time,” he said

Insp Ncube said the culprits will be gradually taken to court depending on which case comes first.

Some of the owners expressed displeasure with the slow process of reclaiming their vehicles and fear that they might find some parts missing when they are finally cleared.

“When vehicles are impounded the state that you leave it in is not the same state that you find it in when it gets released so the police should always speed up the processes,” said one of the owners who did not want to be named.

On Monday police at Rose Camp briefed about 50 owners of the vehicles about the process that will lead to the clearance of their cars.

The police said once dockets are compiled, drivers who were driving the vehicles will be taken to court, while the cars go through a series of screening which will result in more dockets being opened for the offences.

Police said vehicles with no proper documentation will take longer to clear.