Illegal parking lot busted in Kurla; 60-year-old ‘owner’ held

As per traffic police officers, they had received complaints from the locals residing near the Aksa masjid beneath the bridge connecting Santacruz and Chembur. The residents alleged that due to the parking of vehicles there, they had experienced traffic problems and jams.

Mumbai: The Mumbai Traffic police busted an illegal parking lot at Kurla on Sunday and the 60-year-old kingpin of the racket was arrested. The accused – identified as Mohammed Suleman Ahmed – fell for a trap set up by the police, where they borrowed a rickshaw and used it as a decoy to approach the parking lot which had been going on since last year on government land.

The accused – identified as Mohammed Suleman Ahmed – fell for a trap set up by the police, where they borrowed a rickshaw and used it as a decoy to approach the parking lot which had been going on since last year on government land. (Image for representation)

As per traffic police officers, they had received complaints from the locals residing near the Aksa masjid beneath the bridge connecting Santacruz and Chembur. The residents alleged that due to the parking of vehicles there, they had experienced traffic problems and jams.

“The residents had told us that the parking owner used to charge ₹25 for a vehicle to be parked all night,” said Pravin Padwal, joint commissioner of police (traffic). The officers discussed the case with Padwal and decided to send a decoy vehicle to find out more about the illegal practice.

The traffic police officers then borrowed a uniform from a rickshaw driver and a vehicle. The officers kept VB Nagar police on stand-by as they went to the parking lot and spoke to Ahmed, 60. He told the rickshaw driver that he would charge him ₹25 to park the three-wheeler for the night, but refused to give any receipt.

“That is when we detained Ahmed and handed him over to the VB Nagar police for further action,” said Sandeep Yele, in charge of Kurla traffic police chowki.

The police are now trying to find out how many more illegal parking lots Ahmed had opened.