KARACHI - A large number of vehicles, plying on various city roads which have either no number plates or illegal number plates such as MNA, MPA and Senator are not only reflecting the scant regard for the law on part of their owners but also create serious problems for the security agencies. Most of these vehicles belong to ministers, parliamentarians and other powerful law breakers of the land, The Nation observed on Monday. According to reports, a number of vehicles in the city carrying the fancy number plates are usually being intercepted by the police and take action against these violators of the law as well but the number plates, carrying the names of MNAs, MPAs and Senators always keep them off the hook. Despite, prevailing security risks and tall claims of the authorities, members of parliaments and leaders of political parties usually carrying such number plates on their vehicles to avoid the risk of apprehension.The phenomenon also creates difficulties for the personnel of law enforcement agencies in case of accidents and various kinds of mishaps because it will be difficult for them to track down the vehicle, having such sort of number plates. Such incidents are common in posh areas such as Defence and Clifton where mostly members of parliaments and high profile personalities reside. An official of the Defence Police, wishing not to be named, told The Nation that sons of affluent families and high profile personalities made the life of others miserable as if they were all above the law. These people do not even bother to show respect for the women, the elderly and children and torture them if anybody asks them for bill, he added. Such a case was reported in the Drakhshan Police precincts in which a vehicle, carrying the MNA number plate and also the Abu Dhabi number plate hit the vehicle of a retired Air Force Chief while managed to escape after torturing him. The retired Air vice Marshal who had served the Pakistan Air Force for more than 35 years was on his way, with his son, to visit his friends house in DHA when a big Land Rover/Land Ranger-type vehicle coming from the opposite direction and occupied the central portion of the narrow road and it seemed it would ram the car. They narrowly survived the accident when Retired Air vice Marshal told the driver of the vehicle to be careful rather than hitting anothers car. An argument took place where a youth, not more than 18-year-old, driving the car, extremely agitated, and came out of his car along with his two guards with Kalashnikov rifles. They started threatening him and his son and finally one of the guards became violent and hit the retired Vice Marshal and his son with the butt of his rifle and started to cock his gun as if he would shoot. In his report the Air Vice Marshal told to the police that as if this manhandling was not enough, a police escort vehicle with 6-8 police personnel both in uniform and in civvies arrived and without ascertaining the facts attacked two of us. Passers-by intervened and stopped the situation from getting worse and they immediately sped away. After regaining the balance both father and son proceeded to the Darakshan Police Station and reported the matter but police unable to take action because they have no clue or number of the vehicle to investigate the matter. A former SHO of the Darakshan Police, where the police officers usually confront such situations, on condition of anonymity, informed that when such incidents happened, police usually registered cases against both parties to avoid pressure. He said if we registered a case against one party, another will utilise all his/her contacts to exert pressure to the police. Look in my gut feelings no one is above the law and an honest and dedicated officer never take pressure from any one, he claimed. However, he agreed that most of the police normally suspended by their high-ups due to these type of cases. He said he knew about the case of the retired Air vice Marshal case, but as a police officer he could not register a case against them. Honestly speaking if anyone of us including me try to intervene and follow the course of the law we will either be stripped off our belts or demoted immediately by the mighty politicians and the police high-ups, he elaborated. This blatant breach of law is visible to all those hundreds of policemen, who remain dutifully engaged in stopping such violations but whose eyes are carefully trained not to recognise the violating vehicles of the powerful and unlawful urban militants.