Rickshaw pullers call 36-hour bandh in IMC area
25 women street vendors sent to judicial custody
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, May 05 2011: With the impasse over the eviction of unlicensed street vendors from the bazar areas yet to end, rickshaw drivers and thela pullers rose up to protest against government norms restricting them entry into the market areas.

Rickshaw drivers and thela pullers under the banner of the All Manipur Rickshaw Drivers' and Pullers' Welfare Association have announced a 36-hour bandh in the Imphal Municipal areas with effect from 6 am of Friday, May 6 till 6 pm of the next day.

Announcing the bandh, AMRDPWA secretary Th Basanta Singh said that it has been called to protest the arrest of its president L Subhas and secretary A Gaffer by police and also demanded the cancellation of parking allotment order of rickshaws.

The association will not be responsible for any untoward incident arising out of violating the bandh, he warned.

Meanwhile, in the continue impasse between government and street vendors, Imphal West Chief Judicial Magistrate today remanded arrest of 25 women street vendors into judicial custody for 15 days as they refused to sign PR bonds saying they will continue their agitation against the government's stand to evict them.

The 25 women were among 27 street vendors arrested by police yesterday and kept in their custody after booking them under section 147/149/151/188 IPC (all related with rioting and unlawful activities prevention Acts) by the City PS.

All the 27 women were produced in the court of Imphal West Chief Judicial Magistrate today.

When 25 of them refused to sign on the PR bond for releasing them on bail, the CJM ordered them to be sent to judicial custody for 15 days.

Two of them, however, were released on bail on health grounds.

The detained street vendors included Y Rita Devi, president of the Khwairamband Bazar Vendor Nupi Lup and Ch Somola Devi, president of Punshi Keithel Women's Vendor Association.

While producing them after registering a suo motu case under section 147/149/151/188 IPC of City PS, police alleged that the street vendors had violated prohibitory orders of the Imphal West District Magistrate and shouted various slogans in protest against the cabinet decision for shifting them to the Lamphel Supermarket.

Police said that they became an unruly mob and became violent and obstructed the discharge of duty by the police inspite of repeated warnings.

However, Rita Devi, who spoke to reporters at the court complex, recalled that they were detained by the police while going to submit a memorandum to the Governor as a reminder to an earlier memorandum seeking his intervention to review the government's decision regarding the eviction of street vendors.

The assault on the women vendors was an excessive act meted out by the police.

They are not satisfied with the attitude of DSP, Victoria when she beat the women who are like her mother and friends.

Even though they were sent to jail, the protest will continue.

They will launch a hunger strike in the jail, Rita announced.

Meanwhile, when the 25 women were taken away from the court complex, a large number of women vendors stormed towards the police and asked to be arrested too.

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