Economy

Anti-terror police raid NTSA over Dusit attack car

ntsa

A crowd outside the headquarters of the National Transport and Safety Authority when detectives raided the premises on January 30. PHOTO | KANYIRI WAHITO | NMG

Services at the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) were Wednesday paralysed as police arrested senior staff members alleged to have facilitated registration of the DusitD2 terror attack vehicle.

The raid, which was conducted by the Ati-Terror Police Unit (ATPU), disrupted crucial services such as application of digital driving licences.

Other disrupted services include issuance of vehicle log books and renewal of road service licences.

“Talk to Director of Criminal Investigation George Kinoti for more details,” said ATPU chief Munga Nyale without giving more details.

When the Business Daly visited the centre most stations had no staff.

An employee who was manning the gate said detectives had switched off the system.

“Staff have been arrested in almost all sections and the system is not working. We hope that normal operations will resume tomorrow,” he said.

A senior police officer who was privy to the raid said they were looking for people involved in the illegal registration because another vehicle has similar number plates.

The NTSA raid comes barely two months after hundreds of motorists seeking digital driving licences were stranded following a technical hitch that grounded eCitizen, the government’s online payment platform.

NTSA Director-General Francis Meja said then that while the Transport Integrated Management System (TIMS), the agency's digital platform, was working applicants could not complete payments without eCitizen.

Under TIMS, the transport sector regulator has taken most services online.