Industrialists raise concerns over Ghaziabad’s ‘crime-prone’ image

Sunil Goel, an exporter who operates from the industrial area on Bulandshahr road, raised concerns about the ‘thak thak gangs’, which divert the attention of commuters and make off with valuables from cars.

City-based factory owners and industrialists on Friday raised safety and security concerns with senior officers of the UP police, who were in the city to interact with industrialists ahead of the proposed UP Investors Summit that is to be held at Lucknow on February 21-22.

Officials said that the UP government is expected to sign memorandums of understanding for projects worth Rs1 lakh crore and proposals to the tune of Rs45,000 crore have already been received.(Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The meeting was held at a management college in Dasna, off the NH-24.

Officials said that the UP government is expected to sign memorandums of understanding for projects worth Rs1 lakh crore and proposals to the tune of Rs45,000 crore have already been received.

However, members of Ghaziabad industrial bodies raised concerns about the ‘image’ of the city, which they said is ‘crime-prone.’

“My customers are shocked when they hear I am based in Ghaziabad. Visitors know that it is a crime-prone area. This is affecting growth. There have been positive signs with infrastructure development and the environment is congenial for investment. We should have more such meetings and the outcome of these meetings should also be reviewed,” IC Agarwal, an exporter from Ghaziabad, said.

Sunil Goel, an exporter who operates from the industrial area on Bulandshahr road, raised concerns about the ‘thak thak gangs’, which divert the attention of commuters and make off with valuables from cars.

“There is a fear of the unknown in the city. Six months ago, I was in a car with an international buyer when they punctured the tyre of our car. I somehow sensed their motive and asked the driver to speed up the car and stopped it at a petrol pump, after two kilometres. Such incidents bring fear and there is a need to rid the city of this,” he said.

The coordination meeting was attended by Anand Kumar, UP’s additional director general (ADG - law & order); Prashant Kumar, ADG (Meerut zone) and Ram Kumar, inspector general (Meerut range). The district police officials were also present. Amitabh Yasah, inspector general (UP special task force) was also present but the industrial bodies and the members did not raise any concerns about mafias or extortions.

SK Maheshwari, a factory owner from Sahibabad Site IV industrial area, also raised his concerns and apprised the officials about the crimes in which his family members were victimised.

“Apart from crime, there has been infiltration of certain people who have instigated (labour) unions and have led to incidents such as lynching. One such incident was in Ghaziabad and the other was in Gautam Budh Nagar. Such incidents also happened in other NCR areas and drove out investment. There is lack of staff and infrastructure facilities in police stations and police posts,” he said.

The officer bearers of Ghaziabad Industries Federation raised concerns about erring autorickshaws, rickety buses and encroachments at Delhi-Ghaziabad borders.

“Traffic signals are defunct and there is no transport nagar for truckers. They park their vehicles in industrial areas. The unauthorised settlements have also increased in industrial areas. All these factors affect the image of the city and steps should be taken to resolve the issues,” Arun Sharma, president of the association, said.

ADG Anand Kumar immediately directed for more coordination meets and deputed circle officer (city-2) as the coordination officer.