Cops bust parking racket near Chowpatty, 4 booked

Accused collected parking fees from motorists, who were not aware that it was a no-parking zone

- Linah Baliga

MUMBAI: The Gamdevi police have busted an illegal parking racket and booked four persons who were allegedly running the racket after they charged a motorist ₹100/hour as parking fee, who later received an e-challan from the traffic police for violating parking rules.

According to the police, the four accused were booked based on a complaint lodged by Ankur Sachdev, a resident of Lokhandwala Complex in Andheri West.

"Sachdev was visiting Girgaon Chowpatty with a friend on Tuesday afternoon and was trying to park his four-wheeler near Sukh Sagar hotel when a person approached him and asked him to park the vehicle opposite Starbucks on KM Munshi Marg," said a police officer from Gamdevi police station.

Sachdev parked his car opposite Starbucks and paid a fee of ₹100 per hour to Gautam Sagal, 27, Gautam Giri, 25, Sushant Das, 31, and Hemant Das, 45. This was higher than the designated parking fee of ₹70 per hour for four-wheelers and ₹20 per hour for two-wheelers.