Team Herald
PANJIM: The Panjim Police on Tuesday wielded lathis to disperse vendors protesting outside the Corporation of The City of Panaji (CCP) building, for forms to put up stalls for the annual Ashtami fair.
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A large number of vendors had gathered at the CCP to purchase forms for the annual ‘Ashtami’ fair to be held along the promenade at Campal-Panjim from August 17 to 30.
Every year, the CCP used to permit about 400 stalls but the vendors appeared to panic following reports that the Corporation has decided to allow only 200 stalls this year.
A large crowd had gathered and queued outside the CCP since morning for 200 stalls up for grabs as these stalls were to be allotted on a first-come first-served basis.
But when they were informed that the forms were exhausted, the vendors became restive and created a ruckus. They started alleging that there were malpractices in distribution of forms and that forms were sold at an exorbitant price.
There were also allegations that some councillors have taken these forms to sell it to vendors, who also charged that a husband of one of the woman councillors was selling forms at exorbitant price between Rs 2,000 to Rs 4,000 per form. However, the details of exact number of forms sold was not available.
Despite several appeals, the vendors were in no mood to disperse and continued their protest till police resorted to wielding lathis to disperse them.
