Guard beats, tears bizman's clothes over parking row

Parking is increasingly becoming the apple of discord in the city’s central business district.

A businessman was allegedly assaulted and had his clothes torn by a security guard at a commercial complex when he tried parking in the basement. The businessman’s mother and a friend were not spared either.

Mohammed Owais, 23, the businessman, had driven a Renault Duster into Sophia’s Choice on St Mark’s Road around 2.30 pm on October 12. His mother Najmunnisa, 46, and a friend, Samuel, accompanied him.

Owais had an appointment with an advertising agency whose office is located on the third floor of the building. He saw empty parking slots in the basement and decided to park there. A security guard, identified by the police as Salman, rushed up, asking him not to park there.

Owais requested that he be allowed to park as he had just half-hour’s work but the guard didn’t budge. Owais continued to park. The guard opened the car’s door and started assaulting him. He also called other guards from a nearby apartment. The guards arrived and pounced on Owais. Two of them pinned him while Salman rained punches on the face. He even tore his shirt and bit him in the thigh.

Owais was bleeding from the mouth when Samuel rushed to his rescue. But Salman hit him, too. When Najmunnisa tried to capture a video of the incident, Salman snatched her phone and threw it away before hitting her on the forehead.

A crowd gathered by then but no one intervened. Najmunnissa called the police and they all rushed to the Cubbon Park police station to lodge a complaint.

Police, who have opened a case, have learnt from eyewitnesses that Salman, the guard, has a reputation of being violent with outsiders as well as people working in the commercial complex. Some employees stopped bringing their cars and started cycling to work because of parking problems, Najmunnisa told DH.