Bengaluru: Kalasipalya street vendors throw cow dung at councillor

BENGALURU: Traders threw cow dung at a councilor and

BBMP

officials after they were prevented from opening their businesses in

Kalasipalya

on Wednesday morning.

Kalasipalya comes under KR Market which is still a containment zone.

Worried over the safety of traders in the wake of spreading Covid-19,

Prathibha Dhanraj

, councilor of

Dharmaraya Swamy

Temple Ward,

Chickpet

, and BBMP officials rushed to the spot and tried to stop them from resuming their business.

Dhanraj asked the traders to close their stores because they were violating containment zone rules. Furious, the traders threw cow dung on the officials.

“We are only trying to help the traders and protect them. They do not understand the seriousness of the virus; they will be putting others also at risk,” Dhanraj, speaking to TOI.

“There is just one positive case here and for more than 14 days there have been no cases. We need to be allowed to practise our trades,” said Manjunath G, a steel trader, from Kalasipalya.

"We are purely dependent on the daily business for our livelihood and because of this lockdown, we are unable to do any business. The government is not helping us either," said Ramesh R, a street vendor of Kalasipalya told TOI.

A huge crowd gathered and began shouting slogans against the corporator and her husband, Dhanraj, a local leader. As the mob three cow dung at the BBMP team, police resorted to a mild lathi-charge to disperse the crowd.

The situation is peaceful and around eight men have been taken into custody for questioning, police said.