Gurgaon: Jacobpura meat shop owners protest against ‘threats’

The meat shop owners alleged that they are being threatened and intimidated by some people

Meat shop owners in Jacobpura meat market held a protest on Monday at the Mini Secretariat in Gurgaon against pressure tactics allegedly adopted by some people in the area to get the market shifted.

Members of the Jacobpura meat market association demonstrated outside the Mini Secretariat in Gurgaon. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)

According to members of the Jacobpura meat market association, while the market has been around for the last 70 years, there are now some people who are forcing them to keep their shops closed till the market is shifted somewhere else.

There are 15 shops selling chicken, mutton and fish in the Jacobpura market where around 500 persons are directly or indirectly connected with the trade. The market association said it wants the government to protect them from the people intimidating the shop owners in the area.

Traders and members of the association alleged that for the past three to four days, groups of people roaming in the area have been intimidating and threatening them, thus preventing them from running their shops.

“We have been in this trade for many years and there is nothing else we can do. How am I supposed to survive?” asked Rajesh, who works in a meat shop.

“We are ready to shift the market provided the government provides us with an alternative space. The administration has also given us one and half months to get the licences required,” said Pritam Bhagat, president of the market association.

On May 5, the state government had announced that strict action would be taken against shops selling meat without the required permissions from the authorities.

An official of the district administration said that they will look into the matter and the issues raised by the meat shop owners.