In a unique protest of the traders in the State capital’s New Market, they begged with bowls in their hands and raised slogans demanding suspension of the encroachment officer of Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC), Qamar Saqib, accusing him of extortion. There are more than 1,300 shops in New Market. Apart from this, there are hundreds of shops on the footpath around Top n Town Ice Cream Parlour, Pink Parking and Hanuman Mandir. On Saturday, these shopkeepers staged a protest and raised slogans against the encroachment officer Saqib. Their strike continued for about an hour. Many shopkeepers sat on the ground and started begging with a bowl in their hands. A trader Vishal said, “Business is going on with great difficulty due to the corona pandemic, and we also have to face an extortion threat to do business. Now the demands are increasing.

 

We have complained to senior officials, but no action has been taken so far. Today, with a bowl in our hands, we are begging people, so that we can collect money and give it to the encroachment officer.” When encroachment officer Saqib was contacted, he said that the orders of the Municipal Commissioner are that shops should not be allowed to be set up around Top n Town, Pink Parking and Hanuman Mandir, so shopkeepers have been asked not to set up shops. They have been asked to set up shops elsewhere, but instead of removing their shops, they have staged a protest. No extortion is being done, he added.