45 shops sealed, 2 razed in Ramban
Banihal/Jammu, February 12
At least 45 shops were sealed and two others demolished during the ongoing anti-encroachment drive in Banihal township of Ramban district on Sunday, officials said. Two political activists were taken into preventive custody before the start of the drive to retrieve the state land along the sub-district hospital road amid tight security arrangements, they said.
A team of revenue officials, led by Banihal Tehsildar Imtiyaz Ahmad, had on Saturday served notices on the owners of the shops, mostly pharmacies and clinical laboratories, triggering a protest. The shopkeepers, along with local residents, staged a sit-in at the tourist hostel, however, a police team swooped on the protesters around midnight and two sarpanches — Mohd Ilyas Wani of the Democratic Azad Party and Qaiser Hamid Sheikh of the Congress — were taken into preventive custody, officials said.
Additional security personnel were deployed across the town. The shops that were sealed, included 22 pharmacies, nine clinical laboratories and five optical shops, officials said. “The shops have come up on the encroached state land over the years. These have been handed over to Municipal Committee, Banihal, after being sealed as per the law,” the Tehsildar said.
He said eight marlas of state land, under occupation of a private school, were also freed during the drive. So far, 40 per cent of the encroachment has been removed.
Pervez Hamid Sheikh, president, Beopar Mandal of Banihal, requested the district administration to take into account the plight of poor shopkeepers, who have lost their livelihood, and return the shops. More than 300 people have been rendered jobless by the closure of nearly 50 shops, he added. — PTI
300 persons lost livelihood: Traders’ body
- Requesting the administration to return the shops, Pervez Hamid Sheikh, president, Beopar Mandal, Banihal, says over 300 persons have been rendered jobless with the closure of nearly 50 shops.
- Traders along with area residents and two sarpanches were taken into preventive custody on Saturday night during a protest.
