SHANGLA: The traders of Bisham city staged a protest on the Karakoram Highway against imposition of heavy fines on them by the district administration and food department.

The protesters also held a rally from Swat Road to tehsil office, Bisham. The shopkeepers and hoteliers closed their businesses on the call of Bisham Traders Union.

The union president Hamidur Rehman, Guldad Khan, Rahim Shah and others said on the occasion that assistant commissioner and food department officials visited the Bisham city and imposed fines ranging from Rs5,000 to 20,000 on the shopkeepers, hotel owners and venders.

Guldad Khan, a village nazim and also a trader, said that food inspectors came from Alpuri, Mansehra and Battagram and imposed heavy fines on the poor traders daily. He warned that if the practice continued the traders would not pay the fine.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2018