Festivals and robberies in Mumbai
Beware at Juhu beach when you go for visarjans
With the final day of Ganpati visarjans set to take place, the Juhu lifeguards Association has unearthed a big racket that is rampant at the Juhu beach behind JW Marriot, Hotel Tulip Star, etc. Subroto Mukherjee, a lifeguard said, “Robberies at the beach are always more during Ganpati time. But this time the operation of the thieves is unique.”
At various points of Juhu Chowpatty, groups of young boys rob men who hang around after completing the visarjan rituals. With visarjan happening well into the wee hours of the morning, the robbers get started at their act between 11 pm and 3 am. D Bunty Rao, a lifeguard said, “Two boys generally dress up like women winking and blowing kisses to men who roam on the beaches. They attract them and then take them to a secluded spot where their gang members, about 5-7 of them come and beat up the victims, alleging sexual harassment, robbing them of their valuables in the process.”
The lifeguards have received a number of complaints in the last few days and were on alert last night when they managed to catch 5 men out of the group of 10 who were up to their mischief at the beach. Mukherjee and Rao were patrolling the beach near Hotel Tulip Star, when they saw a man being beaten up, they alerted the other lifeguards who came to rescue the man and nab the culprits.
Mukherjee said, “We were able to catch only five men, the others ran away. When we went to the police they just threatened them and let them go. However, we managed to click pictures of them.” The lifeguards claim that there are a number of gangs that operate in the dark portions behind the hotels along the Juhu Chowpatty stretch. T Kulkarni, a police official said, “There have been about 7 cases registered of robberies at the beach. We are looking into the matter.”
While on patrol in the last week, the lifeguards have found at least 20 people beaten and injured at the beach. Lifeguard
With the final day of Ganpati visarjans set to take place, the Juhu lifeguards Association has unearthed a big racket that is rampant at the Juhu beach behind JW Marriot, Hotel Tulip Star, etc. Subroto Mukherjee, a lifeguard said, “Robberies at the beach are always more during Ganpati time. But this time the operation of the thieves is unique.”
At various points of Juhu Chowpatty, groups of young boys rob men who hang around after completing the visarjan rituals. With visarjan happening well into the wee hours of the morning, the robbers get started at their act between 11 pm and 3 am. D Bunty Rao, a lifeguard said, “Two boys generally dress up like women winking and blowing kisses to men who roam on the beaches. They attract them and then take them to a secluded spot where their gang members, about 5-7 of them come and beat up the victims, alleging sexual harassment, robbing them of their valuables in the process.”
The lifeguards have received a number of complaints in the last few days and were on alert last night when they managed to catch 5 men out of the group of 10 who were up to their mischief at the beach. Mukherjee and Rao were patrolling the beach near Hotel Tulip Star, when they saw a man being beaten up, they alerted the other lifeguards who came to rescue the man and nab the culprits.
Mukherjee said, “We were able to catch only five men, the others ran away. When we went to the police they just threatened them and let them go. However, we managed to click pictures of them.” The lifeguards claim that there are a number of gangs that operate in the dark portions behind the hotels along the Juhu Chowpatty stretch. T Kulkarni, a police official said, “There have been about 7 cases registered of robberies at the beach. We are looking into the matter.”
While on patrol in the last week, the lifeguards have found at least 20 people beaten and injured at the beach. Lifeguard