DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Dec 2: The proposed auction of the municipal shopping plaza at the West Circular Road in the city was postponed on the intervention of MMA general secretary and JUI chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, sources said.

The auction was scheduled to be held during the last days of the current month.

Some shopkeepers were running business in the shops, owned by the municipal committee, for the last 40 years. However, the Tehsil Municipal Administration in a recent operation demolished the shops to make room for the construction of a 37-shop market on the site.

The TMA had announced that the shops would be auctioned during the current month and the shopkeepers who had deposited Rs160,000 against each shop would be allowed to participate in the process.

The auction was, however, postponed when the aggrieved shopkeepers met the JUI chief and apprised him of their problems.

Mr Rehman had sought explanation from Tehsil Nazim Fatehullah Khan on the issue.

Mr Khan told the Maulana that the old shops were razed to construct a shopping market on the site to increase the revenue, the sources said.

The JUI chief later summoned a joint meeting of the aggrieved shopkeepers, the Tehsil Nazim and the TMO.