3 arrested for assaulting Gurugram society guards over water supply, get bail

Gurugram: Three people were arrested in Gurugram on Monday night for allegedly assaulting three security guards and ransacking their office after barging into the ATS Society in Sector-109 last week, to pressure real estate firm officials managing the society and residents to buy water tankers only from them, police said on Tuesday.
The suspects, all in their late 30s, were identified as Lala Kataria alias Manish of Surat Nagar, Sector-104 and his two associates Lalit Janghu of Daultabad, and Deepak Punia of Bahujholari, Jhajjar, currently residing in Rajendra Park.
The incident occurred on Friday (October 18) and the suspects were apprehended on Monday night. On Tuesday, they were granted bail after the real estate firm submitted that it wants to amicably settle the matter, officers said, adding that Kataria is a water supply contractor in the area, and a part of the society is built on his family’s land.
Sandeep Kumar, public relations officer, Gurugram police, said that two wooden bats and a SUV used in the crime were recovered from the arrested suspects. “Investigation is going on to ascertain the identities of any other suspect if involved and arrest them,” Kumar added.
Investigators said that the incident occurred after the trio along with a few others arrived at the entrance of the society in a SUV car Friday night, and allegedly assaulted the guards after picking up a fight with them.
The suspects, during the assault, allegedly also threatened the residents and the society’s management to take water supply tankers from them or face the consequences, they added.
A senior police officer said that a different contractor has been supplying water to the society for drinking and other purposes for a long time.
“Kataria wanted to establish their supremacy in the area and ensure that all the societies including the one whose guards they had assaulted, must take water supply only from them. They had adopted other means in the past to expand their business by pressurising people but failed. Thus, they adopted this means of assaulting the guards,” the officer added.
On complaint of one of the guards, an FIR was registered against the suspects under relevant sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita including 3(5) (common intention) and 115 (voluntarily causing hurt) at the Rajendra Park police station on Saturday.
In June, water supply mafias had damaged the GMDA pipeline to Emaar Imperial Garden society in Sector-102 by punching multiple holes in it with axes after the residents had refused to pay ₹50,000 per month as protection money for safeguarding the pipeline.