Car tow row: Insurance company refuses to pay for damage, police blame owner

KOLKATA: Facing a repair estimate of Rs 80,000 for his damaged sedan, Baruipur film-maker Sanchayan Chakraborty on Tuesday shuttled between the repair workshop off EM Bypass and the Bidhannagar police headquarters, seeking reimbursement. Chakraborty’s insurance company has, prima facie, made it clear that he will not be reimbursed as the vehicle was damaged while being towed away by police from a no-parking zone.Chakraborty has urged them to reconsider their decision.
Chakraborty, in his complaint to the police on Monday, said he had parked the car behind Bidyut Bhavan in Salt Lake’s DJ Block around 4.15pm and gone to the book fair. Around 7.45pm, when Chakraborty and his friend, Palash Haq, returned, they found the car was missing. They were informed by the Karunamoyee police outpost that the sedan had been towed away by cops. They found the car on the road in CJ Block, but its front portion was severely damaged.

TOI sought an estimate from an expert who said, it would cost Rs 70,000-Rs 80,000 to repair the damage. “The front bumper, hood, grill, moulding, radiator, condenser and bumper beam need to be replaced. These will cost approximately Rs 80,000,” the expert said.
Chakraborty alleged that when he went to the Bidhannagar East police station to lodge a complaint, an officer told him to pass it off as an accident. “I was told that if I lodged an accident complaint, I would be provided with an accident report, which, in turn, will allow me to claim compensation for damages. I refused,” he said. A senior officer said police will investigate if they receive a formal complaint.
Cops, till now, have refused to shoulder any responsibility for the damage. “According to the Motor Vehicles Act, if any car is parked unattended in the no-parking zone, obstructing traffic, cops are authorized to tow it away. However, at times, the car may suffer damage during towing. Something similar might have happened in this case, but it was, after all, the car owner’s fault as he had parked in a no-parking zone,” an officer said.
Negligent towing of vehicles is not uncommon in the city where people find designated parking spaces in prime areas, such as those around the book fair full on days like a holiday. Apart from damage to the vehicles, absence of a system to alert owners of the vehicles being towed away by the police compounds the matter further, an officer said.