Salesman slapped, thrashed with belt by excise inspector for charging Rs 10 extra on beer bottle in Noida | Noida News

NOIDA: A liquor salesman in Greater Noida was allegedly slapped and pelted with a belt by an excise inspector for overcharging customers. The district excise officer has initiated a departmental inquiry.Manish Kumar (29) of Dadri, who works as a salesperson at a model shop in Jagat Farm, claimed he sustained severe injuries on his limbs and chest after he was brutally assaulted by excise inspector Chandra Shekhar. His family staged a protest outside the DM’s office on Saturday after cops refused to register a complaint. The victim claimed Shekhar and a constable came to the model shop around 8.30 pm on Friday and accused him of overcharging customers. “When I told the officer that I did not overcharge, the inspector slapped me multiple times. He removed the CCTV camera’s DVR and then put me into his vehicle and took me to the excise office in Greater Noida’s Sector Delta 3. Once in the office, he assaulted me with a belt and left me there in a severely bruised state,” Manish claimed. The salesman claimed he was left in the excise office for hours before his brother, Rohit, who also works at the model shop, got to know about the assault later that night and came to pick him up around midnight. The family subsequently tried to submit a formal complaint on the emergency helpline, Dial 112, and then at several police posts, but in vain. On Saturday, they gathered outside DM’s office in Greater Noida.The district excise officer, Subodh Kumar, told TOI their team had received a complaint against the salesman for charging customers Rs 10 more than MRP for beer bottles on Friday. “Excise inspector Chandra Shekhar and a constable were sent to the shop for an inspection. In his initial statement, the inspector said that when he reached the shop, the salesperson was drunk and misbehaved with them. The two officials took the salesperson to their car to impose a challan, but the latter fled from the spot,” the DEO said, adding that it was possible that Manish may have hurt himself later.“A departmental inquiry has been initiated. Appropriate action will be taken based on the findings of the inquiry,” the DEO said.