Contractor flashes pistol to escape
2 min readPatna: A municipal contractor who had gone to collect tax from autorickshaw drivers was beaten up by the latter at Kankerbagh auto stand on Wednesday afternoon. Kumar Abhishek had received the tender for collection of tax. He, however, managed to escape from the spot by flashing his licenced pistol.
According to Kankerbagh police sources, Abhishek had recently received the tender for collection of tax (money) from the auto drivers. Wednesday was the first day of his collection. When Abhishek reached the auto stand, some of the auto drivers refused to pay the money claiming that the money (tax) was higher than what they used to pay earlier. The refusal by auto drivers lead to an altercation between the municipal contractor and the auto drivers. Soon, a large number of people from both the sides assembled at the spot. The auto drivers who outnumbered Abhishek and his supporters heckled him and also beat him up.
Ravi Bhushan, the station house officer of Kankerbagh police station, said: “The municipal contractor managed to save his life by flashing his pistol.” The SHO claimed that after the incident the auto drivers also attacked the municipal office in the Kankerbagh area damaging the window panes of the building. The police have also detained Abhishek for interrogation.
However, the auto drivers claimed that Abhishek misbehaved with some of them demanding higher money.
Santosh Lal, an auto driver, said: “The municipal contractors and the local police have been harassing the auto drivers for the past several months. Earlier, a different contractor was collecting tax from them. But recently another person has received the auto stand tender and his staff were collecting more money from us.”
Lal added: “Earlier we used to pay Rs 30 but the new contractor demanded Rs 50 from us.” The auto driver claimed that when they refused to pay the money, the staff of the contractor started threatening and assaulting them.
Courtesy: The Telegraph
