They found minor girls on roads moving alone, but they did not overlook the impending threat and informed police. Their alertness prevented any untoward incident with the minors. Such 16 men, mostly auto drivers, were identified by police and were felicitated during conclusion ceremony of ‘Traffic Awareness Week’, on Tuesday. Most of the girls had run away from their homes for some reason and they could have become victims of any sort of crime. But, timely information by alert citizens including auto drivers saved them.

The Traffic Awareness Week is an initiative to raise awareness about safety of women especially when they are alone on roads. The auto drivers including Rakesh Malwiya, Vinod Satankar, Ghanshyam Jaiswal, Prakash Kushwaha, Chandraprakash Pandey, Zahid Khan, Arun Meena, Dipal rao Ballal, Manoj Gaikwad, Kishore Chouhan, Dipak Soni, Vijay Saini and Rakesh Prasad along with others have helped police department.

Their contribution should be recognized and set as an example for others to follow, said an officer. Deputy Commissioner of Police Vinit Kapoor said the awareness week started on January 11 and concluded at Rani Kamalapati Railway Station on Tuesday. The aim of the initiative was to raise awareness about women safety at public places. Joint director tourism Manoj Singh, DCP Traffic Hansraj Singh, DCP Richa Choubey and others remained present during the conclusion ceremony. The auto drivers were also given stickers carrying information about these helpline numbers during the event.