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Rickshaw drivers clash with police
[Dawn] A violent protest by rickshaw drivers against a traffic plan that restricts their movement in the city turned the Grand Trunk Road into a battlefield as they came in clash with the police here on Monday.

The stick-wielding drivers damaged public and private properties, beat up coppers and snatched ticket books from traffic sergeants.

All this happened during their wheel-jam strike against the traffic plan that, in a move to reduce vehicular pressure on main arteries, asked unregistered rickshaws plying in the city to get registered with the police.

Policemen and rickshaw drivers were seen beating each other on the main road, forcing passengers and public transport vehicles to stay away from G.T. Road for many hours.

The protesting drivers broke signboards, police pickets, road grills and blocked the road at different laces by placing pushcarts and burning tyres. Police also fired teargas shells on the protesters and charged them with baton.

A police officer said that FIR was registered against the leaders of rickshaw drivers at Hashtnagri cop shoppe. One of them had been nabbed and the rest would be nabbed soon, he added.

He claimed that influential political personalities were behind the rickshaw owners as they were extorting money from them.
Posted by: Fred 2012-01-04
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=336459