A month ago, the vendors had successfully cleared the footpath in Ponda market by staging daylong dharna under ‘Mission Footpath Hatao.’
Buoyed by this success, on April 21, around 1 pm, these agitating vendors allegedly took law into their own hand and cleared five vendors claiming that they were doing illegal business and were eating into their profits. But this proved costly as police registered offence of trespassing, based on a complaint filed by one evicted vegetable and fruit vendor Pooja Naik on 21 April, who claimed she was doing business on private property which belongs to Bela Rodrigues situated just in front of the Ponda Market.
The Ponda Police registered case against six vendors for trespass, assault, abuse and manhandling against under Sections 143, 323, 504, 147, 427 r/w 149 IPC. The six accused are identified as Kishore Mamlekar, Mangala, Rekha, Samati, Shalu, Shambu Naik. Besides, police have also registered a case against 20 other vendors for trespassing into private property, unlawful assembly and assault with slaps, kicks, verbal abuse and damaging and taking away clothes, vegetables, costing Rs 30,000.
It may be recalled that a month ago when the vendors launched ‘Mission Footpath Hatao’ in Ponda Market, they got police protection and support from Ponda Municipal Council to clear the footpath vendors. But this time the police and PMC kept away since the so called five illegal vendors were operating out of a private property.
Property owner Bella Rodrigues said that she has the court order to show that she owns the premises and that the PMC market is separated by a distance of 10 metres which has been demarcated by the PMC. The market shed vendors therefore had no right to interfere in her property. She also pays sopo (squatting tax) to PMC for the women vendors who do business from her property.
