The SUV of a Meghalaya minister was parked in a 'no parking zone' in crowded market area here and the police collected Rs 1000 as fine before releasing it, the police said today.

The driver of Saleng Sangma, the Community and Rural Development Minister, had to cough up the money for neglecting the 'no-parking' sign put up by the police near a shopping mall at Khyndailad last evening.

Stating that only his driver was in the vehicle, Sangma told PTI: "This should be a deterrent to other violators and the police should be allowed to do their job irrespective of who the vehicle belongs to."

Khyndailad has a designated government-run parking bay with a capacity of about 500 cars.

Police said in view of the rush of shoppers ahead of Christmas, strict rules have been put in place.

Like Sangma, several Army and private vehicles have also been towed by police personnel manning the area in the past one week for violating rules.

Shillong city is plagued with heavy traffic jams due to an increasing number of vehicles plying on small roads.

The home department is running short of manpower manning traffic in city roads.

For every 500 cars there is only one traffic personnel, police said.

In a day, Shillong city has 5000 taxis and an equal number or more private vehicles plying on its roads, they said.