Waste collectors thrashed, 4 booked

Gurgaon: Four men have been booked for allegedly assaulting two waste collectors of Ecogreen, the concessionaire engaged by the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) for the city’s waste management, in Shivaji Nagar.
Police said residents had dumped mixed waste in the area. The waste collectors refused to pick mixed waste as per MCG’s orders and asked locals to segregate it, which led to an argument, police said.
MCG rolled out collection of only segregated waste from November 11, announcing that garbage wouldn’t be collected from households if it is not separated at source into dry, wet and hazardous waste.
The accused have been identified as Monu, Ankit, Sanjay and Neeraj. All four are residents of Shivaji Nagar. Anil Kumar (30), who drives a garbage collection vehicle, along with helper Shadat Khan (28), went to collect garbage in Shivaji Nagar on Sunday. Kumar was collecting garbage when he noticed some residents had not segregated their waste.
“I refused to collect the garbage unless they segregated it. One of the residents got furious and called a few of his friends. They tried to force me to pick the mixed garbage, but I told them that we have orders to collect only segregated waste and we will collect the waste only after they segregate it,” said Kumar, adding this made them angrier and they started thrashing him.
Khan came to Kumar’s aid and started to make a video on his mobile phone as evidence, but the men snatched his phone and assaulted him as well.
“They threatened to kill us and told us not to visit this area again. They also snatched our belongings,” Kumar told police.
Based on Kumar’s complaint, an FIR was registered under sections 323 (causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the Shivaji Nagar police station on Monday.
Shivaji Nagar station house officer (SHO) inspector Praveen Kumar said, “The collectors were assaulted over waste segregation. A case has been registered against the four persons involved in the incident. They are currently on the run.”