SURAT, Oct 13: All 600 shops in J J Air-conditioned Textile Association remained closed for two hours on Tuesday in protest against alleged police inaction in their fight with builder Shankar Nebhumal, from whom they are demanding property documents.Association members are demanding the arrest of Nebhumal for, what they allege, his fraudulent practices and transfer of the Salabatpura Police Station Inspector S M Rajput for his partisan attitude. They also shouted slogans denouncing both.If their demands were not met within three days, the association has threatened to intensify their agitation by holding a dharna in front of Nebhumal's office and shops. If law and order situation worsened during their protest, the police would be responsible for the consequences, the association warned.While Nebhumal says that he is in a position to hand over property documents to the shop-owners, the association says that it would not be possible due to a court case.Owners say though they got possession of shops in the first phase of the market in 1985 and the second phase two years later, none of them was given property documents. Moreover, the builder fell apart with his partner Jagdish Tekrawala in 1990, from where their woes began.
