Fashion designer held for assaulting 70-year-old man

A fashion designer and his driver were arrested on Saturday night for allegedly beating up a senior citizen during an argument over beautifying a patch outside his upcoming store in a Santacruz housing society.

A fashion designer and his driver were arrested on Saturday night for allegedly beating up a senior citizen during an argument over beautifying a patch outside his upcoming store in a Santacruz housing society.

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Based on 70-year-old Dinanath Chaturvedi’s complaint, Riyaz Gangji, who runs the Libas chain of apparel stores across the country, and his driver, Ijaaz Khan, were charged with assault and criminal intimidation.

“They were produced in the Bandra court on Sunday and released on bail,” said senior inspector Madhukar Chaudhari of the Santacruz police station.

The incident took place at 8pm, on the premises of New Sujata Society on Juhu Tara Road when Gangji was checking on the work of his newly purchased store and flat in the society.

“Due to the ongoing work inside the store, a pile of debris was lying in the society compound. Though I had met the society secretary a fortnight ago, he did not say anything about not clearing of the debris. I found out that the society members were not planning to clear it,” said 40-year-old designer, who has many Bollywood personalities as clients.

“My clientele are high-profile people and it would inconvenience them to walk through the debris to reach my store, which would affect my business,” Gangji added.

The designer on Saturday brought a few labourers to clear the debris and beautify the space by planting shrubs.

But the society members objected and told the labourers that Gangji had no permission to beautify the space. Soon, a heated argument broke out between the two groups.

Later, the society residents approached the Santacruz police claiming that during the argument, Gangji had assaulted Chaturvedi.

But Gangji claimed that he was inside the first-floor flat and he had nothing to do the incident.

“In fact, the labourers were beaten up by the society residents. I will approach the zonal deputy commissioner of police and lodge a complaint against them,” added Gangji.