Jailed man booked for extorting money for garbage collection

Gurgaon: A jailed private vendor has been booked for allegedly extorting money from residents of Palam Vihar for door-to-door garbage collection. On his directions, his associates are allegedly not allowing the company authorised by the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) to collect garbage from the area and demanding that residents pay them for the service instead.
The man, identified as Sector 23A resident Naveen Kumar, was earlier arrested for brutally assaulting a man for stopping him and his associates from collecting garbage, police said. He is currently in Bhondsi jail and police will take him on production remand for further investigation.
The FIR was registered on Wednesday at Palam Vihar police station on a complaint filed by MCG. Kumar was booked under sections 186 (obstructing public servant), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 384 (extortion) of the IPC. According to police, a similar case had been filed against him earlier.
“Even in his absence, his associates are threatening residents on his directions to pay them for garbage collection,” said police spokesperson Subhash Boken.
In some areas, local goons are allegedly obstructing MCG’s garbage collection, instead collecting it on their own and charging residents Rs 100 to Rs 500 for it. These groups allegedly collect garbage without segregation and dump it in open areas and don’t allow garbage collection vehicles of MCG to enter their areas. “They threaten residents if they refuse to pay the charges. We have formed a team to track such people and take action against them,” a police officer said.