POLICE officers in a town in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh -- the country's most populous one -- were shocked to see an auto-rickshaw, a three-wheel commercial vehicle -- carrying as many as 27 people of different ages.
A video tweeted by a journalist showed the passengers -- from children to the elderly -- getting down from the auto-rickshaw after it was stopped by the police in Fatehpur went viral on social media. A policeman was seen counting each passenger as they disembarked. One of the officers was heard asking who was the driver as it was easy for him to hide among so many people he was carrying.
An auto-rickshaw, often called an unstable vehicle, can generally carry three persons. Some are equipped to take up to six passengers. They fit themselves in between buses, a cheaper mode of transport, and taxis -- an expensive mode -- and are immensely popular with India's middle-class. Auto-rickshaws are in fact a popular mode of transport in a number of South Asian and Southeast Asian nations were they are also known by the name of 'tuk tuk'.
Media reports said when the police tried to stop the auto-rickshaw for going too fast, its driver tried to speed away. The cops then chased it and forced the driver to stop.
The police were "shocked to see over two dozen passengers inside", Rajesh Kumar, superintendent of police in Fatehpur, told the Times of India newspaper. The vehicle was seized for overspeeding as well as overloading.
The autorickshaw has been seized for violating the speed limit and for being overloaded.
The video of the incident received funny reactions from several viewers, some of whom said that it deserved to be a "word record". Others said it exposed flaws in India's transportation system. One even refused the believe the video saying it was fake.
The United Nations said in a report this week that India is set to overtake China to become the world's most populous country in 2023.
Democratic Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate David Crowley speaks to supporters at a campaign rally on August 10, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Crowley is polling second behind front-runner Francesca Hong in the Democratic primary, which takes place tomorrow. Getty Images
Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong speaks to supporters during an election-night party on August 11, 2026 in Madison, Wisconsin. Recent polling had Hong with a substantial lead over her nearest Democratic rival David Crowley, but returns have shown a tight race throughout the evening with the two candidates trading slight leads.Getty Images
Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) participates in a ceremonial swearing-in at the U.S. Capitol on May 19, 2020 in Washington, DC. Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) and Rep. Mike Garcia (R-CA) were both officially sworn-in as new House members on Tuesday morning.Getty Images
