Traders’ union plans to protest on Monday

The issue started 5days ago when a shop owner directed the tenants to vacate the shop.

ISLAMABAD: The traders’ union of the capital is planning on conducting a series of protests starting Monday if police do not take back the complaint lodged against their leader, Kashif Abbasi. The issue that led to this complaint started five days ago when a shop in I-10 Markaz, owned by Colonel Sana Ullah, directed the tenants to vacate the shop.

The tenants requested the colonel to give them some more time to find a new place. However, the volonel did not agree to this and asked them to vacate the property within three days. When the tenants did not leave, he registered an FIR at the Sabzi Mandi police station against the leader of the traders committee on charges of dacoit and put behind bars, according to the traders.

The Traders Association in protest blocked the main I.J. Principal road on August 13, demanding that the colonel be put behind bars for false allegations against Abbasi. Negotiations started between the traders and the police and ended with the ICT administration claiming that the case will be decided on ‘merit’ and that a ‘cross’ FIR would be lodged on the same charges against the colonel.

A committee was then formed by the city administration and DC Islamabad to resolve the matter. Speaking to The Express Tribune, a Senior ICT Official said that the issue must be amicably resolved to avoid any bad feelings. “Our sources have revealed that the committee has decided to review the charges against Kashif,” the official said.

Published in The Express Tribune August 16^th, 2010.