Rajinder Singh Marahar
Bhakta Bhai, 21 December
The shopkeepers of the city blocked the Bajakhana-Barnala road by closing their shops in strong protest against the checking of shops by the GST department today at Bhakta Bhai. On this occasion, the protestors gathered raised slogans against the Punjab government and the GST department and alleged that they are being unnecessarily harassed by the department by checking every day. According to the information received, the officials of the GST department arrived at a shop in the city today to check, and on seeing this, the leaders of the local trade association and the shopkeepers gathered in front of that shop. They strongly opposed this action of the department and surrounded them. Later, the police took the said officials out of the gathering, due to which the shopkeepers got more angry and they started jamming and dharna. On this occasion, the leaders of the trade association and the shopkeepers said that Bhakta Bhai is a small rural town but they are being unnecessarily harassed by the raids by the GST department. He said that in the current situation due to the recession, the economic condition of the shopkeepers is already very pathetic. An official of the department said that they had come to check under the orders of senior officials of the department. The jam and dharna were continuing till the news was written.