50 booked for assaulting five bank staff in Sector 83
Investigators said the suspects laid siege around the branch and assaulted the officials when they attempted to open the gates
Fifty people were booked for allegedly assaulting five officials including two women staff of a public sector bank posted at a branch located in a commercial building in Sector-83, police said on Wednesday.
According to the police, the incident took place on Tuesday morning when branch manager Manish Paliwal and other officials reached the spot to open the locks of the main gate and found the suspects, mostly locals, waiting at the spot in 10-12 SUVs.
They said the suspects laid siege around the branch and assaulted the officials when they attempted to open the branch.
They said that Paliwal and other officials tried to negotiate but failed as the suspects were adamant that the branch should not be permitted to open.
A senior police official said that the other people in the building intervened and rescued the officials.
“The branch didn’t open immediately. The bankers were removed to safety for the time being,” he said, adding that they were yet to submit the medical reports of their injuries.
“There’s a dispute between locals and the realtor who had constructed the building over payment in connection with their land used for construction. It was brewing for some time,” the police official said.
Paliwal was contacted on Wednesday but refused to talk citing that he was in hospital for treatment.
“All the officials including women were assaulted. The suspects threatened us too,” Paliwal alleged in his police complaint.
Pradeep Mishra, a deputy general manager rank official of the bank posted in Gurugram, said that the branch was meant to be opened for public business on March 1.
“However, it could not start functioning over these issues. I only know that there is some dispute between the villagers and the builder,” Mishra said.
Inspector Bijender Singh, station house officer of the Kherki Daula police station, said the villagers don’t have any dispute with the bank but with the builder.
“Due to the dispute, they didn’t want the branch to be opened. However, there is an agreement between the bank and the builder. We have asked the villagers and the builder to join the investigation. Besides, we will also take action against those who targeted the officials with the help of CCTV camera footage,” he said.
Based on Paliwal’s complaint, an FIR was registered under Sections 34 (common intention), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code at Kherki Daula police station on Tuesday night.
