RAWALPINDI, June 24: Scores of shopkeepers staged a protest here on Monday at Bara Market against the alleged anti-trader policies of the Tehsil Municipal Officer(TMO)

The traders of some 55 markets assembled there and accused the TMO and his staff of allowing encroachments in return of bribe.

District Nazim Raja Tariq Kiani, Tehsil Nazim Hamid Nawaz Raja and the TMO were also present there. The trader leaders said that all the city markets were flooded with encroachments and the Tehsil municipal administration staff was not doing anything to remove them. “As a result of it, our businesses are being affected,” they said.

Speaking on the occasion, the central union leader, Zahid Abbas Zaidi, demanded the immediate transfer of the TMO.

Earlier, the trader leaders, during a Press conference, severely criticized the TMA officials for harassing the shopkeepers and encouraging encroachers. He said the TMA had established public call offices in front of their shops blocking the parking-lots.