Traders 145;harassed146; by minister146;s men

Over a dozen traders, who have shops at 30-A M G Marg, have alleged that they are being harassed and intimidated at the behest of Nand Gopal Gupta alias Nandi, a Cabinet minister in the state government.

Over a dozen traders, who have shops at 30-A M G Marg, have alleged that they are being harassed and intimidated at the behest of Nand Gopal Gupta alias Nandi, a Cabinet minister in the state government. They claimed that following the instructions of Gupta, the Civil Lines police, power department officials and sales tax officials have been asking them to vacate their shops.

The 30-A M G Marg, spreading across several thousand meters, is situated at the heart of the city in Civil Lines and is a prime commercial land. The land is owned by Veera D Gandhi but it is alleged that she has an agreement with some builders patronised by Gupta.

Nearly 25 traders are running their business on the rented premises, of which 13 have been asked to close down their shops.

Tehzeen Khan, who runs a furniture shop in the area, said: 8220;A fortnight ago, some associate of the minister came to my home and asked me to immediately vacate the shop, failing which I was threatened of dire consequences.8221;

Other shopkeepers including Riyaz Ahmad and Ram Babu Chaurasiya said the police, including the former inspector of the Civil Lines police station, V K Srivastava had visited their shops and asked them to meet Gupta. 8220;We have been running shops here since 1970 and have been paying the rent properly to the land owner,8221; said Riyaz. nbsp;

On Thursday, the shopkeepers led by Congress leader Sanjay Tiwari and Samajwadi Party leader Mohd Khalid met the Divisional Commissioner D N Dubey and submitted him a memorandum against the harassment caused to the traders by the minister8217;s aides. The leaders also warned to stage a massive demonstration at the collectorate if the police used force to vacate the premises. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;

Denying these charges, Gupta 33 said, 8220;I have no connection with the land. Samajwadi Party is trying to defame me and BSP.8221; He alleged that these leaders were after him because he has become a Cabinet minister at such an young age.

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Gandhi8217;s advocate S K Srivastava said the landowner had some dispute with the shopkeepers regarding rent because some of them including Tehzeen Khan and Sidhir Gupta have not paid the rent for several months.