By News Agency of Kashmir
Jammu : After failing to get justice from the Director General of Police and IGP (Traffic) the trader fraternity of Gandhi Nagar today shut their shops and staged a protest demonstration for autocratic rule of Traffic Police in the Gole Market area.
The protest was also joined by MLA Gandhi Nagar Sh Raman Bhalla and many Corporators of the area.
The Traffic Police has banned parking in the well defined parking zone of Gole Market area adjoining Swarn Theater as an act of vengeance. Vehicles are not being allowed to park in around 200 meters area around Monika Super Market where a heavy contingent of Traffic Police cops and executive police has been deployed along with recovery vans. The parking zone which has been existing there for many decades has been thrown out of bounds for all types of vehicles after Early Times newspaper carried a story about the traffic system in Jammu.
“This act of the Traffic Police is causing huge loss to the business establishments in the area and is also causing a huge inconvenience to the visitors in the area” a protester told NAK adding after three days of autocratic rule of the Traffic department, the representatives of the traders of the area brought the matter to the notice of IGP (Traffic) but to no avail despite his assurances the area was not cleared.
After this, the representatives also called on the Director General of Police Sh Kuldeep Khoda who assured to lift the traffic restrictions by afternoon but nothing happened. The area still continues to be under an undeclared curfew and there is a huge presence of cops and no movement or parking of vehicles is allowed.
Rising in defense of their genuine rights, the traders fraternity of the area this evening unanimously shut down their shops and staged a strong protest demonstration against the Traffic Police.
To lodge protest, the to and fro movement of traffic was blocked and the traders burnt tyres in the road raising slogans against the Traffic Department. They had decided to go on indefinite protest against the Traffic Department, but MLA Gandhi Nagar Sh Raman Bhalla intervened into the matter and assured them to get the traffic restriction lifted. Upon his assurance the protest was called off.
Prominent among those who led the protest were: Dr Balwant, Hemant Mattoo, Chandan Gupta, Sardar Menga Singh, Pawan Gupta and RK Sharma. They were also joined by Corporators Jaswant Singh Soodan and Hardeep Singh Mankotia.