MADINAH, 20 April 2004 — The son of traffic director Col. Siraj Abdul Rahman Kamal was arrested here last week during a security check on charges of driving a Traffic Department car without a license.
The inspection team took the boy to the police station to complete the report and impounded the car. A source claimed that the boy was released 10 minutes after his arrest because of his father’s position, something that upset several citizens and other officials.
The source said the boy was 16 or 17 years old, but Col. Kamal said he was 20.
The traffic director claimed his son had lost his driving license along with other official documents.
He said his son’s car had been involved in an accident in Makkah, which was why the boy was driving his father’s car.
Col. Kamal said he had followed the procedure for his son’s release and paid his SR2,000 fine.
The traffic director denied the charges in the police report, saying his son had been driving his personal car and not an official car. He said someone had submitted inaccurate evidence on purpose to ruin his reputation.
However, the license plate in a photograph included in the police report confirmed that the car was an official vehicle and not a personal car.
The deputy chief of the region’s municipality, Abdulkareem Al-Hanini, said regulations apply to everyone and the case of the director and his son will be investigated.
