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Two more illegal parking zones unearthed in SoBo

ByVinay Dalvi
Jul 27, 2023 12:45 AM IST

The LT Marg police have registered cases against the owners of the parking lots who were cheating several vehicle owners. One of the accused Rajesh Kahar worked as a security guard at a garden in Bhuleshwar and was moonlighting as the owner of the fake parking zone

MUMBAI: Four days after an unauthorised pay-and-park zone was busted at Dawa Bazar in Kalbadevi, the police officials unearthed two more illegal parking spaces in south Mumbai’s Zaveri Bazaar and Chira Bazaar areas.

Mumbai, India – July 26, 2023: A visitor parked the Car at Kalbadevi Road area, in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (Photo by Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo)
Mumbai, India – July 26, 2023: A visitor parked the Car at Kalbadevi Road area, in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (Photo by Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo)

The LT Marg police have registered cases against the owners of the parking lots who were cheating several vehicle owners. One of the accused Rajesh Kahar worked as a security guard at a garden in Bhuleshwar and was moonlighting as the owner of the fake parking zone.

The police on Tuesday registered cases against the two frauds, Kahar and Mohan Lokhare.

According to the officials, one of the cases was registered after a complaint was lodged by a goldsmith named Mitesh Jain, who works at Aurum Mall in Zaveri Bazaar. He used to park his two-wheeler near Kamnath Mahadev temple which is next to the Mumbadevi Garden in Bhuleshwar.

“Jain and his colleagues have been parking at this spot since 2020 and they paid 800 a month for the same. Jain was taken by surprise after discovering that he had received several e-challans for parking in an illegal parking zone. After probing, he found out that the space where he had been parking his two-wheeler was illegal. The traffic police had even towed his vehicle a few times, but the parking caretaker had told him that due to VIP movement in the area, his vehicle was towed away,” said a police officer from LT Marg police station.

The police added that the accused parking caretaker Rajesh Kahar got the idea to run an illegal parking lot as people used to ask him to keep an eye on their vehicles while he used to sit at the garden gate. Later, they used to pay him as per their wish. However, after COVID-19, to earn a steady income, he started an unauthorised pay-and-parking zone and used to charge people monthly.

In the second incident, a transporter, Surendra Yadav, 44, lodged the case with the LT Marg police against one Mohan Lokhare, who used to run a pay-and-park lot at Dr Viegas Street in Chira Bazaar.

“He used to take 500 per month which was less than the market rate and ask Surendra Yadav to park his vehicles at his parking lot which was an unauthorised parking zone. After Yadav got several e-challans to his name, he approached us,” said the police officer.

The police have booked the two owners under sections 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, relevant sections of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, the Maharashtra Police Act, 1951 and the Motor Vehicle Driving Regulations, 2017.

The police added there are only three official parking lots in the area – under the JJ Flyover, near Civil Hotel and the third near the Mumbadevi Temple.

“Also, the business community that includes gold traders, cloth traders, electric equipment traders and medicine distributors happily pay the unauthorised pay-and-parking lot operators as they charge less than the market rate for parking vehicles and take care of their vehicles. However, after the Kalbadevi traffic division along with the LT Marg police started a crackdown on illegal parking in the area, several people have been receiving e-challans and are approaching the police to register cases against fraud operators,” said a police officer.

“There is a serious problem of parking vehicles in the city, especially in Zaveri Bazar and Crawford Market which get heavy footfalls daily and people are willing to pay the operators less which leads to the growth of such frauds. The business community is also in a hurry and therefore, such thugs have started thriving as both the parties are in profit,” said Kumar Jain, national spokesperson for the India Bullion and Jewellers Association (IBJA) and owner of Umedmal Tilokchand Zaveri stores.

The police had already registered one case of illegal parking last week at Dawa Bazar.

“We have given them notice of appearance before police under section 41A of CrPC as the crime is punishable with less than 7 years imprisonment,” said a police officer.

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