Dharchula SDM Manjit Singh said the traders whose membership has been cancelled are being provided full security by the district administration.
By PTI
A local traders’ body has forced Muslim shopkeepers in Dharchula to down shutters and given a call for their ouster from the Uttarakhand town after two minor girls were allegedly lured by a couple of men from Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh.
The Dharchula Vyapar Sangh has cancelled the membership of 91 traders, mostly Muslims, and its members have stopped them from opening their shops over the past three days.
They have also asked landlords to oust such “outsiders”.
But the administration said landlords in the town, about 90 km from district headquarter Pithoragarh, have not supported the trader organisation’s call.
The two traders from Bareilly, who were arrested in February for allegedly luring the minor girls, were charged under IPC sections of 363 (kidnapping), 376 (sexual assault), 354 (use of criminal force to outrage modesty of woman) and POCSO Act, Dharchula SHO Parvez Ali said.
“We have registered an FIR against elements who forced the shop owners to shut their shops,” Pithoragarh District Magistrate Reena Joshi said.
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here.