Angry traders push army jawans back

ANGRY TRADERS pushed army jawans back from the site of the Bombay Mall, which was to be demolished in the Cantonment here on Sunday. Owing to this and the lack of adequate number of police personnel, the demolition job proved a non-starter.

ANGRY TRADERS pushed army jawans back from the site of the Bombay Mall, which was to be demolished in the Cantonment here on Sunday. Owing to this and the lack of adequate number of police personnel, the demolition job proved a non-starter.

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The few policemen who were present remained a mute spectator to the incident. Timely intervention by sub-area commander Brigadier VK Nautiyal prevented the situation from taking an ugly turn. The commander returned, issuing a warning that next time they would come with a stronger force.

Though the mall was to be demolished in pursuance of a High Court order, Meerut police did not deploy adequate personnel, citing the presence of many VIPs in the town. Sub area commander Brigadier VK Nautiyal said he could not execute the order with a handful of policemen.

Since traders were angry and there were not enough policemen, the Brigadier said he had no choice but to order his jawans to march back.

Circle officer Dr Brijesh said a majority of policemen were on VIP security duty. The lackadaisical attitude of the police also demoralised the Cantonment Board officials who had to go back without taking action. Later, Cantonment MLA Satyaprakash Aggarwal and trader leaders Bijendra Aggarwal and Naveen Gupta sought a day’s time to vacate the shops.