Shopkeepers closed shops on Saturday on their own: SP
PrashantNews
All the shops belonging to the minority community reopened in Dharchula town of Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand on Monday following the intervention of the district administration.
A local trade organization has raised certain objections against a section of shopkeepers, who they called “outsiders” creating an unsavory situation in the town, police sources said. Some traders had raised slogans also in the area.
However, Pithoragarh Superintendent of Police (SP) Rekha Yadav said all the shops in Dharchula have reopened on Monday. “I want to make it clear that nobody has asked or forced these shopkeepers to close their establishments. There were some issues. But now normalcy has been restored,” Yadav said.
She further clarified that some shopkeepers have themselves closed their shops on Saturday. Since Sunday was a closed day, the shops were open on Monday, she said.
She also said an FIR was lodged against some people, who were shouting in the area. But after the FIR, the calm has been restored, she said.
Tension had been brewing in the area after alleged incidents of love jihad or elopement where two persons were arrested from Bareilly city of Uttar Pradesh and two minor girls were recovered.
Meanwhile, Congress MLA from Dharchula, Harish Dhami has described the incident as politically motivated and demanded stern action against all those people who are creating unrest in the area. He said all those people who have come to Dharchula for business cannot be asked to leave.