Five arrested for attacking BMC officers at anti-encroachment drive

When BMC began demolishing the illegal shop extensions, a few persons began hurling abuses at them. According to the FIR, a mob chased them, particularly junior engineer Akshay Joshi, forcing him to flee and take refuge inside Brahmand Supermarket

MUMBAI: The Samata Nagar police on Saturday arrested five persons for attacking BMC officials who were carrying out an anti-encroachment drive at Kandivali’s Lokhandwala Township the previous night. A mob pelted the BMC team with stones and damaged their vehicles, forcing them to flee and take refuge in neighbouring shops.

Five arrested for attacking BMC officers at anti-encroachment drive

The five accused, identified as Kuldeep Chudawat, 27, Mahendrasingh Chudawat, 27, Shaurya Charla, 31, Jash Charla, 20, and Aslam Imtiaz Sheikh, 27, were arrested and produced before the Borivali metropolitan court, which granted the police custody for two days. All residents of Lokhandwala, they sold paneer and other dairy products in illegal extensions in front of their shops. One of them reportedly owns a restaurant.

Assistant municipal commissioner Aarti Golekar, who was present during the special drive, told HT that it was undertaken following complaints that the hawkers, who had been driven away, had returned to their spots late in the evening.

Things flared up towards the end of the drive when the BMC team of 14 officers and 22 workers, along with two JCBs and two dumpers, moved from Lokhandwala Foundation School towards Lokhandwala Circle. They had not taken a police team with them to prevent news of their drive from being leaked to the hawkers and alerting them.

When they began demolishing the illegal shop extensions, a few persons began hurling abuses at them. According to the FIR, a mob chased them, particularly junior engineer Akshay Joshi, forcing him to flee and take refuge inside Brahmand Supermarket. “He was inside while the rest of the staff guarded him to prevent the mob from opening the grill gate of the shop,” said assistant engineer (maintenance) Hemant Pant from R South ward.

“The shopkeepers downed shutters to save the officials from the mob,” said Shishir Shetty, founder of the Lokhandwala Residents Association (LRA). “The attackers then turned their attention to the JCB driver Kamlesh Nair. They assaulted him, forcing him to abandon the vehicle mid-street and seek shelter in a neighbouring building.”

The mob damaged the glass panes of the JCB and took away the keys of the dumper. Following this, the BMC officials dialled the police for help. The mob dispersed on seeing the police team arrive.

Kandivali MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar, who visited Lokhandwala on Saturday, directed the police team to initiate strong action against the accused. The Samata Nagar police has filed a case under Sections 132, 126 (2), 125, 189(2), 190, 115 (2), 352, 351 (2) and 324 (4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. “Section 132 pertains to assaulting or using criminal force against a public servant to deter them from discharging their duties, 126 refers to wrongful restraint, 190 is for unlawful assembly and 352 pertains to intentional insults aimed at provoking a person to break public peace or commit an offence,” said a police officer.

Jaywant Shinde, senior police inspector of the Samta Nagar police station told HT that the five accused were arrested from the area after identifying them on CCTV and inquiries with local residents. “More arrests are due in this case once we manage to identify and track down the other people involved,” he said.

“We will now intensify our drive against hawkers in such a manner that they learn a lesson and never repeat such behaviour in future,” said a BMC official. “Citizens are fed up with hawkers because they don’t pay taxes, block paths, block drains with their waste, create hygiene issues and even criminally intimidate others. Citizens should support us by buying stuff only from shops even if they have to pay a bit more.”

According to local sources, none of the arrested accused were hawkers. “They worked at dairy and paneer outlets, one of them owned a restaurant and two are shop workers,” said a source.