Every time an e-challan arrived on his phone, Praveen Kumar Reddy feared the worst. The notices carried the registration number of his family’s motorcycle that had vanished nearly a decade earlier, even though the traffic violations were being committed hundreds of kilometres away in Hyderabad. What began as a puzzling notice soon turned into a nightmare. If someone was using the motorcycle to rack up fines, what would happen if it was involved in a serious crime?For Praveen’s family in Koilakuntla in Andhra Pradesh’s Nandyal district, the black Hero Glamour was their first motorcycle. Bought in 2013 by his farmer father, C. Venkateswara Reddy, it was part of the family’s daily life before disappearing without a trace three years later.“That bike was my initiation into motorcycling,” says Praveen, who dropped out of school to join the family’s agriculture business.The motorcycle was stolen in 2016 from outside a hostel in Hyderabad’s Moosapet, where Praveen’s elder brother, Vinod Kumar, was staying while pursuing chartered accountancy. Embarrassed at losing it, he kept the theft to himself for nearly five months.By the time he informed the family, they had given up hope of recovering it. No police complaint was lodged.Nearly a decade later, the motorcycle returned to their lives through a stream of traffic violation notices from Hyderabad.The first e-challan, for riding without a helmet and triple riding, was issued on September 14 last year after the motorcycle was recorded at Musthabad X Road in Siddipet. The family dismissed it as an error.Three months later, another notice arrived from Gandhi Nagar. More followed on February 9, February 24 and April 8. By June, the challans had become relentless. Several were issued within days around Musheerabad and Chikkadpally for wrong-side driving, while others came from NMDC Road in Asif Nagar for helmetless riding.The family’s long-lost motorcycle appeared to be criss-crossing Hyderabad while they, 322 kilometres away in Koilakuntla, watched the challans mount. In all, the vehicle bearing registration number AP 21 AV 2498 accumulated 20 unpaid traffic challans amounting to ₹15,665.“I went to our local police station after the notices started arriving. They advised me to write to the Hyderabad Traffic Police. Many people told us that if the motorcycle was involved in a fatal accident or a serious offence, we could end up facing much bigger problems,” Praveen says.His father then wrote to the police, explaining that although the family had not lodged a theft complaint in 2016, the motorcycle had remained out of their possession ever since and they could not be held responsible for offences committed using it.The letter proved to be the breakthrough.On July 1, Hyderabad police traced the motorcycle after analysing the complaint and traffic records. Chikkadpally police intercepted the vehicle. The rider claimed he had bought it from another person who had promised to hand over the documents later. Police are now investigating how the stolen motorcycle changed hands over the past decade.A growing patternFor Hyderabad Police, the family’s ordeal was part of a growing pattern.Since March 24 this year, Hyderabad Traffic Police have registered 40 FIRs based on complaints from vehicle owners who received e-challans for offences they never committed. More than 10 such cases surfaced in June alone while over 300 complaints are under scrutiny. Police are also preparing to launch an online portal for motorists to report wrongful challans and suspected cloned registrations.A similar complaint came from the office of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD). A Toyota Innova registered in the name of the TTD executive officer in Tirupati began attracting traffic challans from Hyderabad despite never entering the city.After four e-challans were issued, P.Ramu, general manager (Transport), TTD, approached Hyderabad Traffic Police on July 27. Investigators traced the cloned registration number to a Tata Safari in Hyderabad and acted against the person responsible.The experience of retired schoolteacher Ningappa Gogolla of Narayanpet district was no different. Every few weeks, a new e-challan for violations in Hyderabad landed on his phone. His Honda Activa scooter was allegedly caught for being driven on the wrong side near Meraj Cafe, then without a helmet at Putlibowli Crossroads. More notices followed from Zoo Park, Bahadurpura, MG Road, Gowliguda Chaman and Tank Bund — except Gogolla had never made any of those trips.The septuagenarian, who lives on Subhash Road in Narayanpet, nearly 160 kilometres from Hyderabad, says the scooter he bought in 2019 has rarely travelled beyond his hometown. “I thought it was some mistake. I had never taken my two-wheeler to Hyderabad,” Gogolla recalled. As the challans mounted, so did his anxiety. It was only after he approached the Regional Transport Office, which alerted Hyderabad Traffic Police, that investigators uncovered the truth.Police traced a Honda Activa in Hyderabad bearing Gogolla’s registration number. The rider, 35-year-old businessman Zaker Jeelani, allegedly admitted he had bought the scooter from a friend, removed its original number plate and fitted Gogolla’s registration number. Police seized the vehicle and registered a case.For Gogolla, the discovery ended months of confusion. For investigators, it was another reminder that cloned number plates can leave innocent vehicle owners answering for traffic violations, and potentially far more serious crimes, committed by complete strangers.According to an officer involved in the enforcement drive, offenders are no longer merely removing number plates or using decorative fonts. Many are cloning genuine registrations or making subtle alterations that are difficult to detect. In some cases, a single digit or letter is modified to resemble another; in others, an identical registration is fitted to a different vehicle.“Some numbers with a ‘3’ can be altered to resemble an ‘8’. Some people deliberately tamper with the plates to escape enforcement. Every complaint is manually verified by checking the registration details with the transport database, examining the chassis number and conducting field verification before a criminal case is registered,” the officer says.The misuse of fake registration plates extends well beyond escaping traffic challans. Investigators say such vehicles are increasingly being used to transport narcotics and commit other offences while concealing their identity.On July 1, the Excise State Task Force seized 102 kg of marijuana worth over ₹10 lakh from a car intercepted at Pedda Amberpet on the Outer Ring Road. Officials alleged that the accused, Rajesh Sirsat, 27, had replaced the vehicle’s original Odisha registration with a fake Maharashtra number plate to avoid suspicion while transporting the contraband from the Andhra-Odisha border to Pune. Investigators say the registration plates were changed to match the State through which the vehicle was travelling, making it harder for enforcement agencies to identify and track it.