KASUR: Scores of traders and butchers of Mandi Usmanwala shuttered their shops and took to road after a crackdown on them for overcharging on Thursday on Dhing Shah Road in the limits of Mandi Usmanwala police station.

Kasur Assistant Commissioner Ifatul Nisa raided the shops of retailers and butchers at the main bazaar with a heavy contingent of police. She also got over a dozen shopkeepers and butchers arrested in the local police station.

The action agitated the traders who gathered at Dhing Shaw Chowk while the AC visited the police station.

Scores of traders and butchers, led by Mehr Muhammad Tanvir, protested the alleged highhandedness of the administration. Protesters chanted slogans against the tehsil administration. They blocked the road by burning tyres. They demanded the release of the shopkeepers and transfer of the AC.The protest continued for two hours.

The police lodged separate cases against the overcharging shopkeepers. Also, scores of residents of Chandni Chowk staged a demonstration against the Lahore Electric Supply Company for its failure to fix a fault in the transformer which caused power suspension for 24 hours.

They blocked Railway Road near Chandni Chowk by burning tyres and chanted slogans against the officials.

They also alleged local officials demanded hefty amount for the repairing of the transformer.

Later, on the assurance of local administration, the protesters dispersed.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2019