Retired IAF officer beaten with rod over parking dispute in Gurugram

Police arrested a 24-year-old parking attendant within seven hours after identifying him through CCTV footage from the September 10 incident.

A retired group captain of the Indian Air Force was allegedly assaulted with a metal rod by a parking attendant at a business park on Golf Course Extension Road in Sector 58, with police arresting the suspect on Monday, hours after an FIR was registered in the case.

Retired IAF officer beaten with rod over parking dispute in Gurugram

The suspect, 24, who hailed from Kot in Faridabad, was arrested after being booked under sections 115 (voluntarily causing hurt), 126 (wrongful restraint), 351(3) (punishment for criminal intimidation by threatening to cause death or grievous hurt) and 117(2) (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at Sector 65 police station.

Police said the suspect worked as a parking attendant at Magnum Global Park in Sector 58 and fled after the incident, which took place between 9.30pm and 10pm on September 10.

The victim, Amit Kumar Gupta, 51, a Sector 61 resident, was part of the IAF’s Operation Safed Sagar during the Kargil war. He remained under treatment at a private hospital in Sector 38 for fractures in his left limb and head injuries, police said.

According to Gupta’s complaint, he had gone to a restaurant at Magnum Global Park in Sector 65 on September 10 with his wife and child for dinner. He said they went inside while he remained in the car to get it parked.

“I had reached there with my wife and child for a dinner. They went inside while I remained in the car to get it parked. However, the parking attendants were not allowing me to park anywhere,” he alleged.

Gupta alleged that he went to three parking slots inside the business park but was not allowed to park. At a fourth spot, he said, an attendant repeatedly punched his car window while he was reversing.

Gupta said he got out of the car following an argument, after which the attendant allegedly brought a metal rod and repeatedly hit him on his left arm and head. He said the attendant fled as he began bleeding, following which he alerted his wife and the police control room and was taken to the private hospital in Sector 38.

Abhilaksh Joshi, ACP (headquarters), said Gupta was made to drive to various parking locations within the building multiple times. “He has alleged that he was not being allowed to park, which resulted in an argument, and the parking attendant assaulted him with a metal rod,” he said, adding that the incident was captured on CCTV.

Joshi said Gupta initially submitted in writing that he would file a detailed police complaint after recovering. “It was on Sunday night when he finally submitted the complaint on the basis of which an FIR was registered against the suspect on Monday,” he said.

“The suspect was a parking attendant of the business park. His identity was ascertained with the help of CCTV cameras, after which he was traced and arrested within seven hours, getting booked,” he said.

Joshi said Gupta had sustained grievous injuries in his left arm. “Police are waiting for a detailed medico-legal report from which the extent of the injuries will become clear,” he added.

HT has withheld the name of the accused as attempts to contact him and his counsel for comment were unsuccessful.