Damaged vehicles at Dadumajra Colony in Chandigarh on Wednesday. (Express Photo/Sahil Walia)
(BY SALIQ PARVAIZ)
Two men, including one having a criminal background, went on the rampage and smashed windshields of around 20 four-wheelers at Dadumajra Colony (DMC), Sector 38, on Tuesday night. Identified as Krishan, alias Golu, and Simmi, a resident of DMC-38, the two were arrested after being caught on different CCTV cameras installed outside houses in the colony. The incident took place around 2 am. Police said the two were under the influence of alcohol when they went on the rampage. The damaged four-wheelers included Maruti Ciaz, Innova, Scorpio, Alto, Zen and Swift DZire.
The local residents and owners of the damaged vehicles alleged that lawlessness prevailed in the area and the local police failed to control the menace. Manoj Kumar, a local resident whose car was damaged, said, “I came out in the morning and saw that almost all the cars have been damaged with their windshields broken. The incident was recorded on CCTVs as well. The footage shows the duo smashing the cars with rods and canes, and it appears that they were drunk as well. In the footage, the culprits stop a car that was passing by and damage it as well.”
The residents said that while a dozen people reported the matter to the local police, eight others preferred not to lodge any police complaint. “They stopped a car and snatched a gold chain from the people sitting inside. The victims are not from this colony but of the neighbouring colony,” said Raju, a resident of the colony. “Police aren’t doing their job. The average response time for police is supposed to be three minutes but the police came after nearly two hours yesterday,” said Anil, another resident, whose Renault Lodgy car was damaged.
The residents have grown used to such kind of vandalism. “It happens here every day. These two have been doing stuff like this for quite some time now. A month ago, I was coming back home at midnight and I saw that they were stealing from a shop. When I tried to stop them, they put a knife to my throat. I cried for help and luckily people came out,” said Manoj.
Inspector Pardeep Sharma, SHO of Maloya police station, said, “The two men were clearly identified in the CCTV footage. Golu has a long criminal background. He was arrested in the cases of assault, molestation and liquor smuggling and is currently out on bail. Simmi’s background is being verified. The two are school dropouts and unemployed. We have received a joint complaint from 12 owners of damaged vehicles. An FIR was lodged on their complaints.”
A case under sections 341, 427 and 34 of the IPC was registered at the Maloya police station. Earlier, unknown persons had smashed the windscreens of 11 vehicles at Vikas Nagar in Mauli Jagran on the night of February 8. On February 20, three men had set eight vehicles on fire in Teen Colony, Sector 56. Subsequently, they were arrested.
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