Mumbai: The murderous assault on the chairperson of housing society by a local roadside vendor in Bhayandar Mira Road late on Wednesday evening has yet again put the spotlight on the brazen highhandedness and menace of hawkers which has reached alarming proportions in the twin-city.
The latest incident was reported from the J.P Road area in Bhayandar (west), when the accused identified as-Arvind Kadam alias Pappu approached the 55-year-old complainant- Anant Tiwari (55) to give him a no objection certificate (NOC) to extend his footwear repair stall located outside the Prakash Bhawan building which is under the process of redevelopment.
When Tiwari expressed his inability as the onus of awarding such permissions rested upon the shoulders of the civic administration, Kadam got furious and attacked him on his head with a hammer, before fleeing the spot on his motorcycle. A profusely bleeding Tiwari who was rushed to the civil hospital suffered deep cuts to his head which required eight stitches.
However, the police registered an offence under sections 324 (voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon) and 506 (criminal intimidation) instead of slapping section 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC against the accused who is still at large.
Further investigations were underway. A similar incident was recently reported from the Shanti Nagar area of Mira Road when a shop owner was brutally attacked by the mob of hawkers over the issue of parking a motorcycle outside his establishment.
