On a recent trip to Mumbai, I was having a cup of chai with my friend Rishi.  Even as we were watching the traffic up and down Gulmohar Road, Juhu, we saw a 'gang' of workers from a private company entrusted with the job of towing away illegally parked cars.  Now, these private people are 'contracted' by the traffic police, as the latter are completely understaffed to police the entire region which they are responsible for, and there is nothing unusual about seeing there 'private towers' towing vehicles away.  What we saw there however was something which was not only unusual, but also highly illegal.  Here's what happened:

A towing crane came over and spotted an illegally parked Maruti Wagon R. The crane was positioned right in front of the car and hooks were secured to the underside of the car and it was pulled up. The crane started to move away, but another worker quickly shouted 'Thaamba Thaamba' (Stop! Stop!) and pulled out a crowbar which he promptly smashed into the underside of the car's door-handle, once, and then one more time and in a flash, opened the car door, turned on the rear indicators and slammed the door shut and gestured for the car to be towed away! The guys who were supposed to tow away a parked car actually broke the lock on the car and entered the vehicle illegally!  The hapless car owner, after paying the fine for the illegal parking would have had to pay to get the lock replaced.  The high-handed manner in which the whole operation was carried out was rather disturbing to watch.  The whole episode lasted under a minute and a half.  What was even more shocking was finding out how much time it took to get inside a locked car, without a key, for people who wished to steal a car, for instance. The whole incident took place so fast that I was not even able to get a photo of the number plate of the towing vehicle, though I was able to get a photo of the car with its door opened, and subsequently being towed away.