Residents lock liquor shop near school in Hoshiarpur village
Raise slogans against govt during protest, demand closure of vend within 24 hours
Residents of Kalewal Beet village locked a newly opened liquor shop and raised slogans against the government today. The protest was led by five panchayat members along with villagers. A large number of women also participated in the protest.
Villagers said the liquor shop was located close to a school and the ancient Mata Mansa Devi temple, making its presence inappropriate. They demanded that the administration should shutdown liquor shop within 24 hours. They warned of an agitation if their demand was not met.
On April 21, another liquor shop operating since long was shutdown following strong opposition from the Khuralgarh Sahib religious committee. Subsequently, on April 6, the shop was reopened outside Kalewal Beet, but villagers again forced officials to lock it.
Several villagers, including Manoj Rana (Panch), Kulwant Singh (Panch), Sandeep Rana, Manohar Lal (Numberdar) and Bhupinder Singh (Panch), participated in the protest.
Village sarpanch Praveen Kumari visited the spot, but left without joining the protest. When contacted by mediapersons, sarpanch said she supported closure of the liquor shop, but disagreed with the method adopted by some villagers to do so. The sarpanch said she had earlier asked village residents to hold a meeting and submit an application for the closure of liquor shop.
