Dharchula traders' body expels members from outside Uttarakhand after elopement of girls

Pithoragarh: The luring away of two minor girls from Dharchula by traders from Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh has prompted the local traders' body to cancel the membership of 91 shopkeepers from outside, force them to shut their shops and give a call for their ouster.

Shops run by the traders from outside the state have not opened in Dharchula for the last three days with members of the Vyapar Sangh forcing them to keep their shutters down.

A call has also been given to the local landlords to oust such tenants.

"We have registered an FIR against elements who forced the shop owners to shut their shops," Pithoragarh District Magistrate Reena Joshi said.

"No unlawful activity will be allowed. Traders from outside doing business in the town will be given full protection," she said.

Dharchula Vyapar Sangh, that represents over 600 traders of the town, has decided to give membership only to traders from inside the state.

"The traders coming from outside are involved in criminal activities that cannot be tolerated in this sensitive border town," secretary of the traders' association Mahesh Garbiyal said.

The decision was taken after two local minor girls were lured by two traders from Bareilly on the pretext of marrying them in February this year, he said.

Though the girls were rescued and the accused were arrested soon after the incident, tension has been brewing against the traders from outside doing business in the town.

Dharchula SDM Manjit Singh said the traders from outside, whose membership has been cancelled, are being provided full security by the district administration.

The traders from outside Dharchula have kept their shops closed over the last three days but none of them has left the place, he said.

Despite the call given by the Vyapar Sangh for the ouster of traders from outside doing business in town, no landlord has come out in support of the call, the SDM said.

With the model code of conduct already in force, the administration is cautioning the public against indulging in any law-violating activities.

"We have cautioned them against violating the code even today," said the SDM.