CHENNAI: After the central government banned the use of beacon lights on cars used by VIPs from May, many IPS officers in the city continued to use blue beacons on their cars. But Tamil Nadu state home secretary Niranjan Mardi has issued a circular instructing such officers to remove unauthorised beacon lights from their cars.As per the notification amending Rule 108 of Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, no government authority will be allowed to use either red or blue beacon lights atop government vehicles. However, referring to instances, Mardi said, "It is noticed that some of the IPS officers in Chennai city and other parts of the state are still displaying blue beacon light on their vehicles, which is a violation of notification dated May 1, 2017."Police sources said officers engaged in ground level work were entitled to use beacon lights after obtaining permission from the transport department. But that was being misused as officers used the loophole to mount beacon lights on their cars.Soon after receiving the latest order, officers in Chennai have removed beacon lights from their cars. Some have covered these lights with a cloth. Tamil Nadu director general of police T K Rajendran has instructed his subordinates to ensure that the blue beacon light be removed from all government allotted vehicles.Chennai police commissioner A K Viswanathan said, "When I worked as the commissioner of police in Coimbatore city, I never kept red beacon for my car. The blue beacon light was removed as per the order issued on May 1 this year."

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