India, July 16 -- While Gurugram's traffic police cracks down on everyday commuters for missing or improper number plates, a disturbing trend is unfolding within the law enforcement ranks themselves. Several police officials have been spotted driving vehicles with partially covered number plates - often using tape, paper, or even scratches -- to avoid being caught by the city's network of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) and red-light violation detection (RLVD) cameras.

From the Gurugram Police Commissioner's office to the Traffic Tower in Sushant Lok and the Anti-Corruption Bureau office in Sector 47, vehicles parked at these locations routinely display tampered number plates. Over the past several weeks, HT made repeated visit...