Landlord imprisons tenants and their customers
5 July 2012 4:19 PM | Updated 4:25 PM
The owner of an industrial establishment has been arrested for imprisoning 30 tenants, 30 customers and over 10 vehicles for two hours, when the tenants refused to move out after being given notice according to a report by Lianhe Wanbao.
The incident happened at 2pm on 3 July at an industrial building along Tagore Lane on Upper Thomson Road.
The building is said to have been leased to around 30 companies, whose businesses range from providing construction materials to stationery, renovation services and cleaning services. The total monthly income from the rent these tenants pay is said to be over $22,000.
According to one of the tenants, a 65 year-old owner of a hotel cleaning services business known only as Khalique, the landlord told them a month ago that their leases were going to be terminated. The landlord is said to have wanted to demolish and rebuild the building. However, said Khalique, a month was not sufficient time for them to move.
On 3 July, Khalique said that the gates to the building were locked when there were 30-40 workers inside packing items. A 55 year-old accountant, known only as Ali, was another person affected by the incident. A customer of one of the tenants, he was in the building purchasing renovation materials at the time of the lock up.
Ali said he had parked his car near the entrance to the building, and when he returned to his car after an hour, he discovered that the building’s gate had been locked, trapping over 10 car owners inside. An argument broke out in the building’s car park between the tenants, their customers and the landlord, and the police were called.
The police arrived at around 4pm and, after mediating between the parties, got the owner to finally agree to unlock the gate. Khalique said that one of the tenants had recently spent over $90,000 to renovate its showroom.
He said that the construction materials this tenant has are worth over $1 million. Some of the materials are now found lying near the entrance of the building as the tenant is unable to find a new warehouse for them. He also added that besides the tenants, workers living in a 400-man hostel inside the building were told to move out as well.
According to a female representative of the establishment, the owner decided to lock up the place to prevent unwanted personnel from entering. She said that tenants were actually given three months’ notice, but have been trying to negotiate for an extension.
The owner decided against the extension last Monday and told the tenants to move out by Saturday. She said the reason they stopped the cars from leaving the premises was because they were unsure why the cars were there.
Ali said that he intends to sue the landlord for false imprisonment. When contacted, the police said they have arrested a man, believed to be the owner of the building, for false imprisonment at the premises.
