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IIA packs an anti-goonda punch
ARMED WITH a commonsense anti-extortionist strategy, some small entrepreneurs (all members of the IIA) are daring goons with Hollywoodian roar?come on hit me?during this civic elections!
ARMED WITH a commonsense anti-extortionist strategy, some small entrepreneurs (all members of the IIA) are daring goons with Hollywoodian roar—come on hit me—during this civic elections!
This is so when the traders faced the brunt of extortion gangs in a big way.
Anti-extortionist strategy works on simple steps: First, know whether the miscreant belong to the locality? Second, is he visiting the area for the first time? Third, call up the politician on whose name the “fund” is being collected.
Fourth, inform the police and get rid of the goon.
It all started two months before the civic elections as a precautionary measure to help police nab miscreants who invariably asked for large sums of money from their owners as poll “funds” for their candidates.
“There could still have been some cases of extortions in the industrial areas as not all industrialists report the matter either to the police or us in fear of a reprisal,” Indian Industries Association (IIA) Executive Director D S Verma told HT Lucknow Live. He said the State Government had appointed a senior police official of the rank of Inspector General of Police (IGP) who is vested with the task of registering complaints from industrialists being harassed by miscreants for money.
The IIA advises two dimensional strategy to tackle the menace of extortionists—one is called the preventive mode and the other is called the fire-fighting mode.
In the former case industrialists are advised to keep themselves aware of the miscreants in their area and take precautionary measures to avoid them.
In places like Saharanpur, IIA had provided a mobile van to the police where both its members and the police personnel patrol the industrial zones. In Kanpur region, industrialists were provided extensive arms training by the police to protect themselves from extortionists.
Verma said since 2004 quite a few industrialists have even purchased a fire arm and acquired a licence to deal with extortionists to defend themselves in case of a crisis. In most of the IIA meetings as a standard practice, the security environment is reviewed for necessary action.
During the civic elections, the IIA had not received a single complaint from its members on extortion by miscreants. But, wait! It doesn’t mean all is well that seems well!
