Police, Merchant Chamber of Commerce fix closing time of shops at night

Malda: The Merchant Chamber of Commerce has issued guidelines for closing shops in the market over security issues. The police can also have a better surveillance of the area after a fixed time at night with all shops and roadside eateries closed. Any person or group can easily be spotted roaming suspiciously on the streets. Further, an 8-membered RG (Resistance Group) party team will be on guard in the market inclusive of 3 civic volunteers. The market committees will also maintain a register of these guards.

Traders have been asked to close their shops by 11:30 pm everyday, including the roadside eateries and small shops. Besides, the Malda Merchant Chamber of Commerce has called upon the gold merchants of English Bazar to close their shops by 8:30 pm.

The decision came up in a meeting held between the police and the Malda Merchant Chamber of Commerce to ensure the safety of traders on Monday.

It is to be noted that for a few months, after some cases of robbery and burglaries in different places of the district, traders are in a grip of panic.

Jayanta Kundu, president of Malda Merchant Chamber of Commerce, said: “Besides trading upto a fixed time at night if there is a complaint of someone being involved in drug trade, the trader’s association will take stringent action against them.”

The eateries and small shops have been a place for the miscreants to gather late at night and the police cannot confirm their intentions as they skip suspicion by being at a food stall. The use of contraband items and drinking of alcohol in the dark are getting easy. The whole idea is to stop such mischievous activities late at night.