LAHORE, Aug 29: A Lahore Development Authority (LDA) team aided by police clashed with Model Town Link Road shopkeepers on Sunday over the issue of commercial fee, resulting in critical injuries to a construction labourer.

The LDA team visited the road to seal shops and other commercial buildings which had 'never paid' the fee. On seeing the LDA team, the shopkeepers gathered on the scene and put up resistance when its officials tried to raze some of the shops. The shopkeepers burnt tyres and blocked the road to protest the action.

The police were called in when a law and order situation arose there. The LDA team attempted to bulldoze an under-construction shopping plaza. A labourer at work in the plaza fell down from third floor and sustained critical wounds. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where his condition was stated to be critical.

More police teams rushed to the scene when the law and order situation worsened. The police cordoned off the area and blocked the road from both ends -- Model Town and Township. The shopkeepers then were forced by the police to disperse.

The LDA teams with the help of police sealed around 150 shops and around half a dozen shopping plazas, including the outlet of a multinational food chain. The Secretary-General of Model Town Link Road Traders Association, Sharif Balouch, termed the operation illegal and said that the shopkeepers had secured a stay order from a civil court.

Besides, he claimed that the shopkeepers had submitted applications with the LDA to settle down the fee issue. But, he alleged, the LDA authorities never wanted to resolve the issue for their own interest. He said that the shopkeepers will hold a protest rally on Monday (today).