Security beef-up after mob attack: Sonarpur condo to raise gate height, bolster CCTV cover
Times of India | 28 October 2025They also plan to increase the number of CCTV cameras for better coverage. These decisions came in the wake of a terrifying incident in which a 53-strong mob stormed into the housing complex, forced their way into the fourth-floor flat of Customs inspector Pradeep Kumar and assaulted him and his wife in front of their kid.
On Monday, a day after the four arrested in connection with the incident were released on bail, a team of police officers visited the housing complex to collect evidence like CCTV footage.
However, the apartment owners' association of the complex has asked for a letter from the police authority in this regard.
Nitesh Bansal, secretary of the apartment owners' association at the condominium, said: "We will share the evidence with the police once we get the official correspondence from them. Since our complex is a registered society, we are supposed to share details only following a protocol."
At present, the height of the complex's main gate is about 6 ft.
"We have decided to heighten it further so that none can cross it over. At the meeting held on Sunday, we also discussed the need to increase the number of security guards. Though we have CCTV cameras in every block, we will also increase their number," said Bansal.
Even four days after the incident, residents of the housing complex expressed their fear and panic. Many of them have stopped stepping out of the complex after sunset to avoid the "hooligans" on the road.
Biswanath Majumdar, a senior citizen and a board member of the association who has been residing in the complex since 2017, said: "Like other complexes in the city, we have most of the security measures in place, and all outsiders like delivery boys can get access inside following residents' approval. When domestic help enter the complex, residents get alerts through an app. On the campus, all of us, including security guards, are unarmed, and it is difficult to tackle the mob. Everyone watched the rampage helplessly."
Some residents of the complex, however, conceded that while these security measures are deterrents, they will not be able to thwart the recurrence of such an incident because their domestic help and drivers are also from the same slum where the accused auto drivers live.
A resident, on condition of anonymity, said: "During the day, everything is normal but we fear trouble after sunset. So, we prefer to stay indoors post-evening ever since the incident happened. Besides, the hooligans are from the same area where most of our domestic help and drivers come. So, they know the whereabouts of the residents."
