Parking racket near Girgaum chowpatty busted, four booked

Several people used to pay the accused monthly charges of ₹2,000-4,000 to park their vehicles at the spot

MUMBAI: The Gamdevi police have busted an illegal parking racket and booked four persons who were allegedly running the racket after they charged a motorist ₹100/hour as parking fee, who later received an e-challan from the traffic police for violating parking rules.

The complainant was asked to park the vehicle opposite Starbucks on KM Munshi Marg. (Raju Shinde/HT Photo)

According to the police, the four accused were booked based on a complaint lodged by Ankur Sachdev, a resident of Lokhandwala Complex in Andheri West.

“Sachdev was visiting Girgaon Chowpatty with a friend on Tuesday afternoon and was trying to park his four-wheeler near Sukh Sagar hotel when a person approached him and asked him to park the vehicle opposite Starbucks on KM Munshi Marg,” said a police officer from Gamdevi police station.

Sachdev parked his car opposite Starbucks and paid a fee of ₹100 per hour to Gautam Sagal, 27, Gautam Giri, 25, Sushant Das, 31, and Hemant Das, 45. This was higher than the designated parking fee of ₹70 per hour for four-wheelers and ₹20 per hour for two-wheelers.

“The parking lot owner, Tapas Patnaik, told Sachdev that it was a government-approved parking space, and no action would be taken by the traffic police if he parked there,” said the officer.

However, when Sachdev returned, the Gamdevi police were taking photos of his vehicle for parking it in a no parking area. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation had not allotted the space as a parking lot, the police told him. He also learned that several people used to pay the accused monthly charges of ₹2,000-4,000 to park their vehicles at the spot and decided to raise a complaint about the matter.

Based on his complaint, the accused were booked under section 318 (4) (cheating) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and sections 122 (leaving vehicle in dangerous position) and 177 (general provisions for punishment of offences) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

Meanwhile, the Colaba police and the MRA Marg police have booked the contractors responsible for managing the parking lot at Kala Ghoda after they were found overcharging motorists.