P.T. teacher hits attendant with cricket bat over ₹60 parking fee; victim admitted to AIIMS, critical

A 28-year-old teacher of a private school was arrested for allegedly assaulting a parking lot attendant with a cricket bat in south-west Delhi’s Vasant Vihar, the police said on Friday.

The accused, identified as Mehrauli resident and a physical training (P.T.) teacher, Vikram Jeet Singh, was allegedly drunk and lost his cool over a parking fee of ₹60 at PVR Priya market, the police said.

The injured parking attendant, Vikas Thakur, 34, was admitted to the AIIMS Trauma Centre, where his condition is reported to be critical. A senior police officer said the victim’s colleague and an eyewitness to the incident, Manoj Kumar, 35, told the police that the incident occurred on February 1.

The accused had parked his car at the market around 7 p.m. and returned at 9.30 p.m. Mr. Kumar told the police that when he asked Mr. Singh to pay ₹60 as parking charges (for more than two hours), the latter started arguing and got abusive. The attendant’s colleague Mr. Thakur intervened and requested the man to pay the amount. But the accused took a cricket bat out of his car and chased the two men. “He hit the victim on his head,” the officer said, adding that the accused immediately fled the spot after the incident.

Even though the market was crowded, no one came to the rescue of the attendants, Mr. Kumar alleged. After tracing the registration number of the car, the police tracked down the P.T. teacher to his Mehrauli residence and arrested him on Thursday. “His car and the weapon of offence have been recovered,” the officer said. An FIR under Section 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) has been registered at the Vasant Vihar police station.

‘Nothing new’

Following the incident, parking attendants at the market said such aggression over parking fee was not new. Chhotu Ram, 48, who has been working as an attendant for 30 years now, said the hourly fee is ₹20. The accused was asked to pay ₹60 because he had parked his car for nearly three hours. “Even though we have an automated parking system and customers are provided with bills, many argue with us and flee without paying.”

Another attendant, Ashok Mandal, 28, said customers, especially those with Government of India stickers on their cars, often threaten and drive away without paying.

The complainant, Manoj Kumar, who has been working for 10 years at the market, said in most cases customers insist on parking their vehicles at their preferred slots. “If we ask them to park at a different spot, they just start abusing us for doing our job,” he said.

Another attendant, who didn’t reveal his name, said normally he avoids getting into an argument with drunk customers. More so when they are in a group. “It’s difficult to ask them to pay, they usually get aggressive, sometimes even for as little as ₹10.”

Most attendants in the market said they work for 12-13 hours a day and make around ₹10,000-₹12,000 a month, depending on the number of parking tickets sold.