Parking mafia attacked a Hindustan Times photojournalist and held him captive for over 45 minutes when he tried to take photographs of Nadri Bazar parking lot in central Kanpur on Wednesday.
Akshat Shukla, 24, received serious injuries on head and left eye. Doctors at Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital said a test would be conducted on Thursday to ascertain if he had suffered vision impairment.
HT had recently carried a series of reports on the city's parking lots and exposed how people were being charged triple the specified amount.
On Wednesday, Shukla went to Nadri Bazar. He was charged Rs 10 instead of the notified R3 by an eight-year-old boy, employed by parking lot owner Sanjay Ojas. “I tried to take the picture of the boy manning the lot when the hell broke loose,” said Shukla. He said Ojas and his henchmen snatched his belongings and started beating him up.
Shukla managed to call up the HT office, which in turn sought police help to rescue him. A case has been registered. Deputy inspector general of police Rajesh Rai said the accused would be arrested.