Guards of Noida society thrash residents, including women: Cops

After a medical examination was done, a complaint was registered against the guards on charges of voluntarily causing hurt, intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace, and criminal intimidation, following which they were arrested.

A security manager and two guards of a housing society were arrested on Sunday for allegedly thrashing residents of the society, including some women residents, after the locals had protested against dysfunctional lifts in some of the towers.

The incident took place at the Lotus Boulevard housing society, located in Noida’s Sector 100. (HT File Photo)

The incident took place on Sunday afternoon in Lotus Boulevard in Sector 100. According to the police, they were informed of the incident by the residents.

“We were called in by residents when the matter escalated. We were informed that the guards hit some residents, including women. We have registered a complaint and arrested three persons. We have also checked CCTV footage from the society and further investigations are on,” Prashant Kapil, station house officer of Sector 39 police station, said.

Police said the residents were taken to a hospital after they arrived at the scene.

After a medical examination was done, a complaint was registered against the guards on charges of voluntarily causing hurt, intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace, and criminal intimidation, following which they were arrested.

According to the residents, the lifts in many of the towers stop working at least twice a month and the repair work takes days.

This had been causing inconvenience for residents, especially those living on higher floors, they added. There are multiple towers in the society, some of which have 15, some have 22 and some have 26 storeys.

“We went in a large group as most residents were at home, it being a Sunday. We are fed up with the frequent stopping of lifts. These are lifelines in a high rise and it is a basic facility that has to be maintained at all times. However, after a heated argument, the security manager called the guards who started hitting the residents,” Sameer Saxena, a resident of Lotus Boulevard, said.

Another resident, Manoj, alleged the guards thrashed even women.

The residents have injuries on their hands, feet and face, Manoj added.

The maintenance of the society is in the hands of the builder.

When contacted, the developer said that they will take action against the guard. “We are going to take action against the guards who hit residents. We also approached the residents to talk and sort out the issue, but they were not willing to listen. They have closed the gates with the guards standing outside,” Sanjay Bhargava from the 3C company said.

Residents, however, claimed that the developer asked residents to withdraw the case against the guards and the security manager. However, when the residents refused, the developer withdrew all guards.

“We spoke to the guards later in the evening and asked them to return to their position. We now have guards at the main gate but not in the towers,” a resident of the society, who wished not to be named, said.