Police nab anti-Reliance trader

Reliance Fresh stores in Bhubaneswar were the centre of protest again today with the small traders demonstrating before one of the stores located in Kalpana square.

According to police sources, around noon a group of agitators came silently and made there way into the Reliance Fresh store which had opened in Kalpana square.

There were some problems between the agitating small traders and employees of the store following which the agitators allegedly turned violent, damaged parts of the outlet and injured one employee.

Police reached the spot after getting news of the trouble and drove away the agitators but asked the store manager to close the store.

After this, the company lodged a FIR in the Laxmisagar police station.

On the basis of this complaint, the police arrested B K Mohanty, president of the Federation of All Orissa Traders Association for damaging Reliance property.

Mohanty denied the charge and said affected small traders were protesting peacefully before the Reliance Fresh stores and were no way involved in violence there.

However, Reliance adopted a tough stand and hinted that it would proceed with its plan of opening stores in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.

"It is a legal business and we have permission from the government. This is our constitutional right and I don't think that any one can stop it", Kamdev Mohanty, chief executive of Reliance Retail in Orissa said.

Earlier, Bhubaneswar Uttha Dokana Byabasayee Sangha led by its president Sura Jena went in a lathi procession from Master Canteen square to Naveen Niwas (the residence of the chief minister Naveen Patnaik) protesting against the opening of Reliance Fresh stores in the state.

Later, some representatives of the agitating small traders led by Sura Jena, Debaprasad Parija and Niranjan Pande met chief minister Naveen Patnaik and gave a memorandum.

The delegation asked the chief minister to ban the retail business of Reliance in Orissa and to direct the municipal administration to stop the eviction of the road side small traders.

The chief minister reportedly assured the traders about action in this matter.