In a city where traffic noise is already part of daily life, one car managed to stand out for all the wrong reasons. A heavily modified vehicle moving along the Bharati Nagar–Hennur road in Bengaluru recently
triggered public outrage after its harsh, grating sound became impossible to ignore.
Passers-by filmed the car and shared the video on social media, eventually alerting the traffic police setting off a chain of events that ended with a fine larger than the car’s market value.
Following complaints from the public, Yelahanka traffic police launched an operation to locate the vehicle. The car, bearing a Kerala Ernakulam registration number KL7 AB 8764, was soon traced and stopped.
At the wheel was Mohammed Saifan, a student from Kerala currently studying in Bengaluru. Officers found that the car had undergone multiple unauthorised modifications, including changes to the silencer, glass, colour and lights. The traffic police immediately informed officials from the Yelahanka Regional Transport Office for further action.
What officials found during inspection
Transport Inspector Nagaratna and her team arrived at the spot and took the vehicle into custody. Officials said the car was a 2007–08 model Honda city, making it around 17 years old, with an estimated market value of about Rs 70000.
Despite its age, the car had been extensively altered. Black tinted glass made it difficult to see who was inside. The original paint had been replaced with a multi-coloured finish.
Even the headlights had been modified to resemble disco lights. The most serious violation, however, was the altered silencer, which produced excessive noise and posed a disturbance to the public.
Why the fine crossed Rs 1 lakh
Based on these violations, officials booked the owner under Section 182 1A of the Motor Vehicles Act. The total fine imposed came to Rs 1,11,500 — a figure that stunned many, as it exceeded the estimated value of the vehicle itself.
RTO officials said the fine reflected not the cost of the car but the number and seriousness of violations. Each illegal modification was treated as a separate offence, leading to the unusually high penalty.
Action against RC and driving licence
Regional Transport Officer Amaresh Cheluva confirmed that a letter has been sent to the transport authorities seeking suspension of both the car’s registration certificate and Mohammed Saifan’s driving licence.
Officials say such measures are necessary to curb the growing trend of unsafe vehicle modifications that put other road users at risk.
A warning from enforcement authorities
Additional Transport Commissioner for Enforcement C Mallikarjuna issued a strong warning following the incident. He said that if complaints are received about vehicles using modified silencers that create excessive noise, or if such violations come to the notice of transport officers, strict action will follow.
This includes cancellation of both the registration certificate of the vehicle and the driving licence of the driver. For many in Bengaluru, the case has become a talking point not just because of the size of the fine, but because it highlights how seriously authorities are now treating illegal modifications.
What started as a noisy drive ended as a costly reminder that on the city’s roads, style without legality can come at a steep price.
