In Pune’s industrial belts, a new headache: extortion gangs that arm-twist, issue open threats
On the morning of February 6, an HR manager with an emissions technology company in Pune district opened an envelope to start her daily routine. Inside was a note, written on the letterhead of a ‘social organisation’, alleging that the company did not have adequate permits to run its operations and cautioning of an agitation. Four days later, a member of the same organisation allegedly obstructed another HR manager outside the company premises and threatened to “break the hand and leg of company employees” if the company didn’t pay him a monthly protection ‘hafta’ of Rs 15,000.
This is just one of a dozen-odd criminal cases of extortion based on complaints by executives of industries operating from the two main industrial corridors of Pune — the Talegaon-Chakan and Ranjangaon-Shirur-Shikrapur belts in the rural part of the district.
These two belts are home to at least 6,000 industrial units — from small- and medium-enterprises to giants such as Mercedes Benz, Bajaj Auto, LG and Whirlpool.
According to data shared by the Pune Rural Police, since 2022, there have been at least 12 FIRs — seven last year and five in the first four months of this year — registered based on complaints by industry office bearers. Police say 30 people have been arrested in these cases, all of them related to the two main industrial corridors. “These are just the registered cases. The number of instances of extortion and intimidation of industry officials and threats given to them is certainly more than this,” said a senior police officer.
One of the complaints is by officials of a US-headquartered engineering services major. During the construction of the firm’s plant in Pune, a local group allegedly submitted a tender for the installation of fire safety equipment and quoted a high price despite not having any license to provide such equipment. When the group failed to get the contract, the company management allegedly started receiving threat calls. The group also allegedly ran a smear campaign against the company on social media and local news portals.
Last year, the senior manager at a printing technology subsidiary of a Japanese company allegedly received an extortion call seeking a monthly protection money and threatening harm to the firm’s employees.
In the last week of April, senior officials from Pune Rural Police, led by Superintendent of Police Ankit Goyal, held a meeting of close to 150 industry representatives and appealed them to approach the police if they receive threats, extortion calls or are being pressured by labour and other works contractors.
“Our policy is to create a safe and fearless environment for companies. But it is very important that industries come forward and register cases and not pay any heed to the pressures,” Goyal said. “We are seeing more industries coming forward. We assure a fair investigation in each of these cases.” he added.
According to Dilip Batwal, secretary of the Federation of Chakan Industries Association, which has around 3,000 members, most of the troublemakers are people who operate in the garb of ‘RTI activists’, labour contractors or mathadi (headloader) unions.
A senior officer from the Pune Rural Police said, “While RTI is undoubtedly an important tool for common citizens, we see it being misused by some elements against the industries. In many cases, the these so-called RTI activists file queries about various permits, safety norms and licences, and then threaten industries. Often, the owners or parent entities of these companies, who are based elsewhere in India or abroad, are unaware of the local realities, while their officials here hesitate to approach the police, either because of the nature of threats or because they do not want to get involved in police or legal matters.”
Another officer who has served at two police stations in the industrial belts said, “In most cases, the suspects are locals with political links. These people seek contracts for labour, scrap collection, earthmover and land-levelling operations, equipment supply, construction etc, and they often do not have adequate licences to provide these contracts.”
On the headloaders’ unions allegedly indulging in extortion, he said, “While there are many registered mathadi unions working for the rights of the labourers, there are several others indulging in such extortion using muscle power.”
About three months ago, Batwal said, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had convened a meeting with the industries and the police. “During the meeting, the Deputy Chief Minister gave strict instructions to the police to take immediate action against complaints. The police have urged the industries to file complaints with the assurance that it will be acted upon,” he said.
Inspector Pramod Kshirsagar, in-charge of Shikrapur police station, where six of the total 12 FIRs of industry extortion are registered, said, “We have found it crucial to continue our dialogue with the representatives of the industry to understand various issues faced by them, including the issue of extortion and other subjects like traffic. Our recent meetings have proved fruitful where we have been able to understand their concerns better. We have recently started putting up billboards across the industrial area in our jurisdiction in which are appealing industries to approach us if they have complaints of extortion.”
Prashant Girbane, Director General of the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA), the business advocacy and networking forum headquartered in Pune catering to businesses across Maharashtra, said they have plans to convene a meeting of all the headloader union leaders, the industries and government agencies in the next few months. “We want to facilitate a permanent solution for a better industrial working environment,” he said.
Talegaon-Chakan belt
The Talegaon- Chakan industrial belt of the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) is spread over 246 hectares and houses large, medium, small and micro units. This belt which stretches from Chakan to Talegaon is home to German automobile giants such as Mercedes Benz and Volkswagen as well as Indian automotive giants such as Bajaj Auto Limited, Mahindra & Mahindra and others. Given the proximity to Pune and Mumbai, this area has seen the setting up of an ideal ecosystem for the auto- and auto-component industry once Pimpri Chinchwad and Bhosari MIDC areas reached their capacity limits. One of the most sought after industrial areas, almost all the plots in this area are already occupied. MIDC has plans to acquire land in and around Talegaon to develop what is known as the Talegaon third phase.
Ranjangaon-Shirur-Shikrapur belt
Pune’s second industrial corridor lies along the Pune-Ahmednagar Highway and is spread across 800 hectares and includes the villages of Ranjangaon and Shikrapur, among others. This industrial area lies along the border of Pune and Ahmednagar district. LG, Whirlpool, Bombay Dyeing, Fiat etc are some of the major occupants of this industrial area. Unlike Chakan and Talegaon, this industrial area has a much more diverse set-up with other automobile companies. Compared to Chakan MIDC, this is a relatively newer industrial area. Parts of this industrial park are yet to be occupied.
