At last, anchor Pradeep attends counselling session

Hyderabad: Telugu television anchor Machiraju Pradeep, who was booked for drunk driving in the early hours of New Year’s Day, after much speculation attended the counselling session. The session was conducted by Traffic police at Goshamahal police station.

Pradeep attended the session with his father, besides several other drunken driving violators. The session was conducted by G Harish (Inspector), Traffic Training Institute. Pradeep was made to watch the Power Point Presentation (PPT) and documentaries in order to generate awareness about the risks of drunk driving, which would not only harm his own life and but also others.

As part of the counselling session, Pradeep along with others were shown the three-year statistics and the impact of ongoing drives, being undertaken by the police. Data of World Health Organisation (WHO) and its campaigning on the repercussions of drunk driving to the families, when a fatal accident takes place due to traffic violations was also showed.

uring more than an hour counselling, the violators were exposed to scientific facts about consumption of alcohol and variation in judgement by the person on road under its influence. Some of the classical examples of drunk driving accidents were also shown to the violators who attended the counselling session.

Later speaking to media persons, Pradeep refuted the allegations that he was absconding and claimed that since he was asked to appear on Monday he did so. He said that he was cooperating with the authorities and hence appeared for counselling session.

“I learnt a lot during the counselling session and accept the mistake and its consequences. I shall not only implement it in my life, but also educate others about the facts and how harmful it is to drive vehicle under the influence of alcohol,” he said. 

It may be mentioned here that the blood alcohol content (BAC) of Pradeep when he was tested with breathalyser was 178 mg/100 ml of blood (anything more than 35 mg/100 ml is punishable). He was caught in Banjara Hills, during the overnight special police drive on the New Year’s Eve. A case was booked against him and his car was seized by the police.