Noida industrialists unhappy with law and order situation

Noida, Sep 28 (IANS) Two days after the India head of a US-based software firm was viciously beaten up in this suburb of the national capital, city-based entrepreneurs Sunday expressed their anger and dissatisfaction over the deteriorating law and order situation here.

'The law and order and security in Noida has fallen to an all-time low. Firms that chose Noida over south India in search of better working conditions are now repenting their decision. Places like Bangalore and Hyderabad are highly safe compared to Noida,' Ravi Kumar, country manager of Gameloft (Logix Park), said.

'The NCR (national capital region), especially Noida, attracted heavy industrial investments on the promises of better law and order. But, now that is proving to be false. Companies are not secure in Noida anymore,' he added.

He warned that many IT companies would leave the city if the situation did not improve.

Kashir Dwivedi, 37, chief executive of Expedience e-solutions India Ltd, was waylaid Friday night on a road while he was travelling his car to a Sai Baba temple. The company he heads has its global headquarters at Houston, Texas.

'They tried to open my car doors. Since they had got automatically locked, they brought out an iron rod from their car, smashed open the window and dragged me out on the road,' a rattled Dwivedi told IANS.

He was rushed to the local Kailash Hospital following the attack. 'I lodged a complaint with the police narrating the whole incident, but till now there is no lead in the case,' he added.

Super Cassettes Industries (T-Series) vice-president Neeraj Kalyan said: 'Noida isn't the same as it was earlier. There are serious lapses in the security here. More police force needs to be deployed at important and isolated stretches.'

The attack came four days after Lalit Kishore Choudhary, 47, the CEO and India head of Graziano Transmissioni India, was lynched by a group of sacked workers.

Choudhary was beaten to death and some of his colleagues were seriously injured in that attack while the police, according to company executives, did not turn up despite repeated phone calls.

The police said they have got some 'vital clues' in the Dwivedi case. 'We have obtained some vital clues and are working on some definite lines. The four assailants should be hopefully arrested and we will come out with the facts by Monday morning,' Senior Superintendent of Police R.K. Chaturvedi said.