Akela
A man (customer) was brutally bashed by a vegetable vendor and others after he refused to buy costly Shimla-Mirchi (Capsicum). The Parksite police in Vikroli have registered an FIR against the vendor and the others involved.
The incident took place in Chandan Nagar, Powai road, Vikhroli (West), on April 4. The complainant Devnarayan Singh (38) a resident of Vikhroli (West) and a clothes hawker by profession went to buy Capsicum (Shimla- Mirch) from another roadside vendor of vegetables Shyamlal Gupta. Singh went to Gupta’s stall just because his mother wanted to eat Shimla-Mirch on that day. When Singh inquired about the price Gupta said it was Rs. 10 per 250 grams (i.e. Rs. 40/kg).
Singh found it very costly and did not buy it. When Singh started moving out of the place Gupta passed a comment saying “Tum lukkhha kya bhaji lega. Teri aukat kya Shimla-Mirch khareedane ki?”. Hearing this Singh turned to Gupta and just asked him why he was abusing after which Shyamlal got agitated and along with Rajesh, Suresh and another man started beating Singh.
Singh said; “I am a poor man and cannot afford to buy Capsicum worth Rs. 40/kg. So I did not buy. On this Gupta along with the others hit me so badly that my ears and nose got severely injured “.
Singh approached the Parksite Police station Vikhroli to register a complaint against the four but the police asked him to leave the police station premises without registering his complaint and addressing his grievances. Singh then approached Sudhir Singh who is the Vice-President of the NCP youth wing. Sudhir requested the police to register an FIR and on his request after 24 hours the police registered an FIR against Shyamlal Gupta (55), Rajesh Gupta (35), Suresh Gupta (30) and others under sections 323, 504, 325 and 34 of IPC. (Copy of the FIR is available with ABI).
When ABI tried to contact Suresh Sakpal, Senior Inspector, Parksite Police station he said; “Call me later.”