Taxi driver tied up, threatened by airport security guards over parking row
The two guards, identified as Avinash Kadam and Sandesh Patil, were booked under section 342 (wrongful confinement) of the Indian Penal Code. “The two men were arrested and were released on bail on Wednesday,” a police officer said
An argument over parking space on the premises of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport took an ugly turn on Tuesday after two security guards tied up a taxi driver to a chair and threatened him. The guards were arrested on Wednesday.
According to the complainant, Awadhesh Ram Pal, he had parked his vehicle in a no-parking area of the airport for which he was fined by the traffic police. Around 5.30 am, when he went to pick up his car, two guards from Krystal Security stopped him and started asking him questions.
“I told them about being taken by the police for wrongful parking and that I had already paid a fine for it. However, the two guards got hold of me and took me into a security cabin nearby,” he said and added that the two were in an inebriated condition.
Inside, the guards sat him down on a chair and tied him up to it, he said in his statement to the police. “They said they would not let me go until their duty was over. They also abused me and made several threats.”
Fortunately, two other taxi drivers, who passed by the cabin and saw what was happening, informed Sahar police station. A police team rescued Pal.
The two guards, identified as Avinash Kadam and Sandesh Patil, were booked under section 342 (wrongful confinement) of the Indian Penal Code. “The two men were arrested and were released on bail on Wednesday,” a police officer said.
In the last few months, several videos of spats over parking issues have surfaced. In April, a video showing private security personnel thrashing and abusing taxi drivers had gone viral.
Kanhaiyya Singh, president of Mumbai Airport Taxi Auto union, said most of the instances of violence against taxi and auto drivers go unreported. “Even the police avoid taking a formal complaint. In the case of the April incident, we had submitted the video to the police. However, an FIR was registered one after it had gone viral.”
He further said the drivers are fighting against the favoritism that authorities are showing towards cab aggregators. “We are up against very powerful forces. Even Krystal Security is owned by a political leader. Despite their guards behaving like goons, no one would help us against them.”
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