Police have stumbled upon a racket involving officers of traffic guards who allow more cars in a parking lot than what has been stipulated against a bribe.

The racket came to light recently after senior officers visited the lots. Investigations revealed that a section of police officers, in connivance with private agencies looking after the parking lots, has been minting money through the malpractice, which results in traffic congestion, often unmanageable, in the vicinity.

In an effort to rein in the corrupt cops, deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Jawed Shamim said errant officers of all 11 traffic guards will be identified. A notice mentioning the number of vehicles allowed to be parked in each lot has been issued to the traffic guards.

“The notice has been issued in consultation with the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC). We have mentioned the maximum number of vehicles a lot can accommodate. Action will be taken against those found flouting the regulation,” Shamim said.

Parking plazas in the city are owned by the civic authorities, but run by agencies awarded the contract through tenders floated every year.

“During a visit to the BBD Bag area, we found that vehicles much in excess of the sanctioned capacity were parked in a lot. This often leads to snarls in the surrounding roads,” said an officer of the traffic department.

“Following discussion with the police brass, we allotted several parking lots to new cooperatives this year. The cooperatives were warned that their licences would be cancelled if they were found violating the rules,” said mayoral council member (parks and gardens) Faiyaz Khan.

According to joint commissioner (traffic) Ranvir Kumar, the job of police is to oversee whether the number of vehicles in a designated parking zone has crossed the limit.

“Whenever a parking lot creates traffic congestion, we request the civic authorities to impose a ban on parking there,” he said. “Raids will be conducted on the illegal parking lots in the city.”

Calcutta High Court recently slammed police for their failure to manage vehicular traffic and asked the authorities to submit a report about the steps they intended to take to restore order on the roads.

“We have informed the court that a special programme has been undertaken to train cops in traffic management,” said an official.