This duo charges people for parking in south Mumbai, gives fake receipts too

They were identified as Sagar Sandhi and Bhanu Prasad were arrested.

The Colaba police arrested two people for allegedly running an illegal parking racket at Kala Ghoda in south Mumbai.

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They were arrested on Sunday, after Manoj Sharma, deputy commissioner of police (zone 1) got a tip-off about the fake parking racket. A team was immediately sent and two accused identified as Sagar Sandhi and Bhanu Prasad were arrested.

An officer from Colaba police station requesting anonymity said, “Sandhi was nabbed from the spot while Prasad managed to flee. However, Prasad was later arrested from his Nariman Point residence.” Following the arrest, the police team have also been successful in recovering a receipt book from the two men. The receipts carried original civic logos. Investigating officers said that the two had been running the racket illegally for a long time. “We are investigating whether they did it alone or any BMC official was involved in the racket,” said an officer.

The two have been booked under relevant sections of cheating and forgery.

The BMC recently proposed a new parking policy. Under the residential scheme, citizens will be allowed to park on the roads at night for a monthly fee ranging between Rs 600 and Rs 1800 for 12 hours and a hefty fine for parking on certain roads during certain hours.

After three years of delay, the parking policy, which is meant to encourage citizens to use public transport and fine them for illegal parking, is stuck again. Nearly five months after the BMC wanted to implement the policy in the city, it is still awaiting approval from the traffic department.