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Councillor’s husband booked for extortion
Gurugram: Five persons, including the husband of a Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) councillor, were booked on Sunday for allegedly trying to extort ₹2.5
Gurugram: Five persons, including the husband of a Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) councillor, were booked on Sunday for allegedly trying to extort ₹2.5 lakh a month from a man whose company “works in collaboration” with the corporation’s concessionaire for door-to-door garbage collection in Sushant Lok-1. The councillor’s husband has denied the allegation.
According to the police, Mohit Yadav, the complainant, works with a company based in Palam Vihar that was given a sub-contract for garbage collection from the MCG’s concessionaire, Ecogreen Energy Private Limited. In his police complaint, Mohit alleged that his company and the concessionaire signed an agreement in July 2018 and it was allowed to collect “solid garbage” from localities of pockets A, B, C, D and E of Sushant Lok-1.
A spokesperson of Ecogreen, however, has denied signing any such agreement.
Mohit said that his company assigned him the work of collecting garbage from Sushant Lok-1. He further said that in November 2019, the Sushant Lok Residents’ Welfare Association (SLRWA) authorised his company to collect ₹100 per month from each house in the colony for the garbage collection.
According to the police, on January 12, the complainant allegedly received a phone call from Anil Yadav, who is the husband of Arti Yadav, MCG councillor from ward number 32, and was asked to come to his office. Mohit also alleged that the suspect handles all the accounts of the MCG councillor.
In the police complaint, Mohit said that he went to the office with his brother on the same day where Anil Yadav and four other men were present. The men allegedly told Mohit that in order to carry on his business of collecting solid garbage, he would have to pay them ₹2.5 lakh per month.
“They told us that ‘Jo kaam lekar aata hai use humare saath tuning karni padti hai’ (whoever gets work here has to work according to our demands) [sic],” the complainant said in the FIR. According to the police, when Mohit said he cannot afford to give them the amount, the suspects allegedly told him to stop the business and he would receive ₹1 lakh as compensation.
The complainant also alleged that the suspects threatened to give the contract to some other company. “I told him that we don’t even earn that much of amount as we have our own expenses. Then he said ‘To mat karo kaam, chhod do’ (Then don’t do the work, just quit) and also threatened us that they will create obstacles in our business if we do not fulfil their demand [sic],” he stated in the FIR.
Jagbir Singh, station house officer, Sushant Lok police station, said, “We are verifying the claims of the complainant. The suspects are yet to be arrested.”
A case was registered against Anil Yadav and four other men under sections 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) and 384 (extortion) of the Indian Penal Code at Sushant Lok police station on Sunday.
When asked about the matter, Anil Yadav denied the allegations and said he was receiving complaints from residents that the complainant was overcharging them for garbage collection. “The issue is completely different. I had called the subcontractor to my office as I had received numerous complaints from residents that he was overcharging them. In addition, I was also taking cognisance of the fact that MCG’s waste concessionaire cannot sub-contract its work as stated in the contractual agreement with the civic body. I have all sufficient evidences in the matter. Once statements are recorded and police finish their investigation, everything will become crystal clear,” he said.
A spokesperson from Ecogreen said that they do not have any agreement with the company of the complainant. “Only under special circumstances, we can reach an agreement with a third party to sub-contract the collection of door-to-door waste, as stated in the agreement with the MCG. However, in this case no such agreement has been reached with any person in ward 32,” the spokesperson said.
Sushant Lok-1 was one of the five colonies that were to be taken over by the MCG from the private developer. The MCG took over the colony in March 2018, following which the responsibility of door-to-door collection of waste also changed from the developer to the civic body.
More than 30,000 people live in the colony that is spread across 600 acres.
