Home guard held for demanding ‘Diwali gift’ from two car occupants in Gurugram

When the driver offered him a gift hamper, the home guard opened the rear door and began pulling the shopping bags towards himself to inspect their contents, allegedly asking the occupants to give him the best one

Published on: Nov 10, 2026, 07:52:00 IST

By Debashish Karmakar, Gurugram

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

A 51-year-old home guard deployed with Gurugram traffic police was arrested on Sunday for allegedly extorting a Diwali gift hamper from a motorist after dashcam footage of the incident was widely shared on social media, police said on Monday.

The accused, identified as Omkar, a resident of Halalpur in Nuh district, allegedly demanded the gift from a man travelling with his sister near Shankar Chowk around 3.15pm on Saturday.

According to police, the dashcam footage showed the home guard repeatedly extending Diwali greetings to the driver during a vehicle check. The driver could be heard saying he was not carrying his wallet but could pay through UPI.

The home guard allegedly refused the offer, remarking that a Diwali greeting could not be so dry. Spotting several shopping bags on the rear seat, he asked for a gift instead.

When the driver offered him a gift hamper, the home guard opened the rear door and began pulling the shopping bags towards himself to inspect their contents, allegedly asking the occupants to give him the best one. The man and his sister eventually handed him a gift hamper and drove away. HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the footage.

Inspector Sumit, station house officer of the DLF Phase-III police station, said an FIR was registered against the home guard under Section 308(2) (extortion) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita on Sunday, following a complaint by traffic inspector Mahabir Singh.

“The home guard was arrested soon. He had taken a gift packet less than ₹900 which was filled with snacks,” he said.

The accused was produced before a court on Monday and granted bail, the officer said.

Police said the home guard had been removed from duty and suspended, and further departmental action would be taken against him on the directions of senior officials.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debashish Karmakar
Debashish Karmakar is a principal correspondent with the Hindustan Times, Gurugram bureau. He has a vast journalistic experience of almost 14 years of covering crime, court, power, transport, administration, weather and other beats while working across various organisations. He has been covering Gurugram, Faridabad, Nuh, Palwal and other districts of southern Haryana for more than four and a half years. He has produced several breaking and exclusive stories while reporting from the ground where he maintains a strong presence on a daily basis. He writes news articles which are hard-hitting and accurate. With his strong bureaucratic sources, he frequently writes stories to expose the failure of the system forcing authorities to take necessary course-corrective steps. Besides crime, important convictions and court orders, he also writes on human-angle stories, on power issues and challenges faced by the residents on a daily basis in Gurugram and neighbouring areas. In the past, he worked for media houses like The Times of India, where he extensively reported on important government matters and daily proceedings at the Patna High Court. He has also worked in the electronic media and had done ground coverage on the Kedarnath deluge that wrecked Uttarakhand in 2013.Read More

Catch every big hit, every wicket with Crickit, a one stop destination for Live Scores, Match Stats, Infographics & much more. Explore now!.

Stay updated with all the Breaking News and Latest News from Mumbai. Click here for comprehensive coverage of top Cities including Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, and more across India along with Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News.