Ghaziabad traders' stir for nabbing criminals called off

Ghaziabad traders Monday called off their seven-day-old agitation demanding arrest of criminals and removal of Ghaziabad senior superintendent of police (SSP) Dharmendra Yadav.

Trader leader Satya Pal Chaudhary said Uttar Pradesh Vyapar Mandal president Banwari Lal Kanchhal who is close to the state's ruling Samajwadi Party visited the dharna site in Turab Nagar and announced that a decision to grant the SSP seven more days to nab the robbers was taken.

The dharna started Dec 2 after robbers shot at a jeweller Gaurav Garg and looted jewellery Dec 1.

Subsequently, a spate of criminal acts in which a stamp vendor, a property dealer, a building material supplier and a class 10 student bore the brunt compelled the traders and political parties, cutting across party lines, to stage dharnas, take out processions and hold up traffic in the city.

Chaudhary said: "Ghaziabad SSP Dharmendra Yadav had assured a traders' delegation he would solve the jeweller's case within three days, but nothing happened. When the news of traders staging dharna reached Lucknow, the government asked Kanchhal to placate the agitating group. We have called off the agitation after Kanchhal's assurance."

He added: "But, we will start the agitation if there is no satisfactory result."