Mutton shops in city given two more days to shift

Clearance of shops in 100-metre radius of places of worship directed

Deputy Commissioner Manoj Kumar Meena had directed to remove mutton shops in a radius of 100 metres of all the religious places. The order came in the wake of a communal tension in the City as meat pieces were allegedly found in a temple, last week.

Municipal commissioner R Shalini and tahsildar Dayanand visited the Ammavaripet amid heavy police security on Saturday. It came to light during the inspection that several meat shops around Anjaneya and Varadaraja temple were unauthorised and the owners had not obtained licence from competent authorities.

Some owners said they were not even aware of the rule that a licence has to be obtained to carry on the trade. It was also found that shops were opened unauthorisedly in the commercial complex of the City Municipality and the business was being carried out on the footpath, obstructing movement of pedestrians.

The commissioner summoned a earth moving machine to clear the encroachments. However, the merchants protested the move claiming that they had been doing business at the place for years together. However, the leaders of Anjuman organisation contacted the deputy commissioner and sought time till Tuesday for voluntary removal of the shops.

The former asked the municipal officials to defer the clearance drive for two days, over the phone. Deputy Superintendents of Police Rajanna and Govindaiah, Armed Reserve Force inspector Nagaraj, Circle Inspector R S T Khan and others were present.