[arpanjha]

Originally Posted by blackasta

Where did this thing happen? is it inside some housing / society parking?
You set a very bad example giving him the money. i can understand the concern for your car, but to cave in like that is crime. Remember the saying - 'One who commits a crime and one who does nothing about it - both are equally guilty'. Go to the police and file a GD on that rowdy.

No, it is not in a society or housing colony. It is on a street where I stay. My car stays in a covered garage @ my friend's bungalow, and the Zen stays right across the street, opposite to the bungalow gate. His car is parked almost on the street, just a patch of a slightly higher land beside the street.
I understand the thing that I gave in and proved myself to be guilty, but believe me, I had to do it for the safety of my car and also because I didnt want a quarrel to take place infront of my house.

Originally Posted by pramodkumar

@arpanjha,


Remember: never disgrace anyone's car by saying its old, 3rd hand and 4th hand and all. That person might love his car more than his wife


Pramod

I did not mean to disgrace the 2nd hand or 3rd hand car. My father too had bought a 4th hand car as his first car. It just came out at the spur of the moment.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by arpanjha

No, it is not in a society or housing colony. It is on a street where I stay. My car stays in a covered garage @ my friend's bungalow, and the Zen stays right across the street, opposite to the bungalow gate. His car is parked almost on the street, just a patch of a slightly higher land beside the street.
I understand the thing that I gave in and proved myself to be guilty, but believe me, I had to do it for the safety of my car and also because I didnt want a quarrel to take place infront of my house.

what will you do if he asks for money again. Pay again? Like a hafta or something?

[mmxylorider]

^^^ exactly. How different is this from blackmail? IMO, paying the money in the first instance can be construed as admission of guilt, regardless of circumstances. As suggested earlier in this thread, a preemptive FIR would be the best bet to protect yourself from future instances.

[Spitfire]

You have got yourself into a bigger mess then the scene you tried diffusing by paying the money.

[pjbiju]

If you have not filed a police complaint yet, you can mention that they extorted money out of you by threatening (bringing in 3-4 people) etc. And if his car is not repaired yet, take some pictures to show that there is no scratch/dent on your car which would have been there had it been your car that caused the dent. And the fact his car is parked by the road means, it could have been caused by anyone.

[Added_flavor]

@arpanjha:

Well, for a few minutes let's forget your reason for shelling out 1500/-. If I put myself in this situation, I would have done the same for a different reason though. Let me come to that.

These are the kind of people that can go down to any extent. Had you threatened him to file an FIR as suggested here, his reaction could have been different. He could've either accepted he was lying and chickened out, or things could have gotten more serious. If this guy turned out be a psychopath along with being a cheapo, he could come down to harming your family or plotting something else that harms you or your family.

With your permission, I'll quote an experience of mine though it is OT.

There was this neighbor of mine who used to create nuisance every night around 11 PM after he got drunk. It crossed limits one night and around 3 of us (neighbors) decided to peacefully talk to him and make him understand what he's doing is not right. We did that and things turned unexpectedly ugly. Next day he spoke to my sister when I was not at home and threatened her that if we don't mind our business we would face consequences. Just the fact that he spoke to my sister made us take the decision of shifting to a new place. You might as well think I chickened out, but yes probably I did fearing my family's safety.

The reason I'm writing about this experience is to only let you know that these people can stoop down to absolutely any level and we cannot!

So I too would definitely do the same thing in your situation. End of the day, these things do happen and this is the reality. Sometimes you have to accept that you are punished for no fault of yours. It's a part and parcel of life! Cheers!

[mi2n]

Originally Posted by arpanjha

This is a part in Howrah. I guess now you know why I got in such a helpless situation.

Well that sums it all up.
Before any further advice flows on how arpan could have managed to deal with the situation differently, i would like to inform all my friends here that Howrah is notorious for extortion, racketeering and even the local administrative bodies are being controlled by groups with questionable backgrounds to put it very mildly. The law and order situation is accordingly in total anarchy, and i'm not sure whether lodging complaints or calling in the Police would have eased or aggravated the situation for Arpan.
Just for a reference and without specifically naming anyone, an unit of a very large Iron & Steel giant, situated at Howrah has been reportedly asked to pay up Rs.2 lakhs and employ 5 people with a minimum 10k salary at their unit and even with their massive financial capabilities and connections, they have decided to give in to the demands fearing backlash and damage to property. Employment generation -who said it was a tough task?

[mitrajdeep]

Arpan,

I am realy shocked to hear about your incident though at the same time it does no strike me as very unlikely. I know people like this exist and how they can bring 3 or 4 friends together to extort money from other people.

If I were in your position , I would have calmly asked him to go to the local police station and file a complaint saying that I would like my insurance company to pay for the damages since his is third party. Hopefully the inspector would come to asses the damage and give the verdict that this could not have happened by your car, since there is not scratch on your car.This way you could have got the police and the insurance company involved and would not have had to deal with these thugs alone. Also, hopefully during this process he would have lost interest and given up.

EDIT. after reading mi2n's post above ( and agreeing to it ) , I would advice you to take this incident as a sort of paying some fees for the well being of your car and forget the incident. Otherwise one fine day you could find some damage on your car as was threatened and that could have cost more than Rs 1500.

[kaushik_s]

Why have you give in to such kind of scam? Why oh why? There are thousands way to prove that it's not your car which have hit that guy's car and you just could've told him to take a hike. And if he wants any money then tell him to go lodge a complaint at police station. Just hearing that he would've probably left you and your car. But anyway, next time if someone tries to trick you like this just stand your ground and tell them to meet in the court. Believe me, this works.

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by mi2n

Well that sums it all up.
Before any further advice flows on how arpan could have managed to deal with the situation differently, i would like to inform all my friends here that Howrah is notorious for extortion, racketeering and even the local administrative bodies are being controlled by groups with questionable backgrounds to put it very mildly. The law and order situation is accordingly in total anarchy, and i'm not sure whether lodging complaints or calling in the Police would have eased or aggravated the situation for Arpan.
Just for a reference and without specifically naming anyone, an unit of a very large Iron & Steel giant, situated at Howrah has been reportedly asked to pay up Rs.2 lakhs and employ 5 people with a minimum 10k salary at their unit and even with their massive financial capabilities and connections, they have decided to give in to the demands fearing backlash and damage to property. Employment generation -who said it was a tough task?

I think this post sums up the situation in hand.

Hmmm, lets see - there are only two ways to go about:
1. Tackle bull by its horns. Which is = going to police, lodging complaint, getting threatened and probably beaten by this person and his hoodlums. Police in cahoots with this guy, try to frame you.
You end up being in bad books of the goons as well as the court.

2. Avoid the bull, and shell out money each and every time something like this happens. And assure safety to your life and property.


The first way can only be successful if ALL the ppl in his locality back him.
I don't think any has confidence in ppl who live around them (unless you are a group of bachelors and have a brotherhood sort of thing with other bachelors in your area)

[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by mi2n

Just for a reference and without specifically naming anyone, an unit of a very large Iron & Steel giant, situated at Howrah has been reportedly asked to pay up Rs.2 lakhs and employ 5 people with a minimum 10k salary at their unit and even with their massive financial capabilities and connections, they have decided to give in to the demands fearing backlash and damage to property. Employment generation -who said it was a tough task?

You believe in this hogwash?

A big company will just agree to the above for a mere 2 lakhs and 5 people to recruit?

That company has probably done some bigger scam to be there and now when it being threatened to be pulled up is bending for these small time goons.

Understand nothing can stand against the government machinery if they want to set things in order. Problem is the bad goes deep.

[maglev]

I understand what you were trying to avoid and had in mind while paying, but believe me please do file a report about the incident. Also please do inform the police about the threats which this guy gave. Get in touch with the SHO & beat constable of your area and keep their cellphone numbers saved on your cellphone.

[raju2512]

The best option is resist and refuse to pay. If it is a gang which is involved in extortion, they will move on and target the next weak guy. They threaten but they don't get in to action, since they need to spend time and money in harming you or your car. It is easier for them to target the next victim.

This was the experience shared a shop owner friend of mine who used to get a lot of local thugs/politicians asking money on one reason or other (meeting/helping disabled/ poor feeding etc). Once you pay a guy , more guys will start pestering you. Once you stand firm and refuse, they move on.

[mi2n]

Originally Posted by Spitfire

You believe in this hogwash?

A big company will just agree to the above for a mere 2 lakhs and 5 people to recruit?

That company has probably done some bigger scam to be there and now when it being threatened to be pulled up is bending for these small time goons.

Understand nothing can stand against the government machinery if they want to set things in order. Problem is the bad goes deep.

Yes, the company is into much bigger scams, as are most other companies of similar stature. But local goons getting to blackmail/extort such big commercial entities for scams which are way beyond their apprehensions anyways, cannot be substantiated by fact or reasoning.
Let me rephrase a bit or cite and example to make my case :
A businessman buys a residential flat and is extorted by locals and he succumbs just because he has to stay there with his family. Whatever, the businessman does in his trade will most likely not even be known to these locals. I hope i have made myself clear this time.

I am not advising the OP against reporting to authorities, taking legal action, etc perennially. But i feel he should let it pass this time and if the nuisance recurs then take all the corrective measures he can.

[aqualeo2040]

Howrah or no Howrah, I wouldnt agree with the solution.

Arpan & Mi2n. I have lived in that same place for 10 years. We have run a factory of 6000 workers in the same area, without any issues from any shady/dark/grey personality. So, lets not abuse a place just for the sake of it.

When the great neighbour said that he cant claim insurance, why couldnt you just say that you'll get it claimed against ur insurance and for that get the FIR from the PS.
9/10 times, that person would make a u-turn hearing about the PS. If its Golabari PS, it'll be 10/10.
What he said was that he wouldnt be responsible for any damage to your car. But he said it in front of the entire crowd. You have all the evidence to go to the PS and complain. You tell him directly that the fact he's made such a declaration in public can go against him as a formal threat and you will speak to the cops about it.
At the worst, instead of paying 1500 to the guy to repair his damaged vehicle, I'd rather pay the cops 1000 to teach him a lesson!
A area is defined by the people who live.