Roadside Vendors Cause Chaos in Dibrugarh, MLA Vehicle Attacked- Explained

Dibrugarh Police arrested a street vendor for allegedly instigating public and attacking the vehicle of MLA Prashanta Phukan on Saturday.

The street vendor identified as Madan Sah was picked up from his residence in Dibrugarh in the evening hours.

According to initial information received, the Dibrugarh Municipal Board has recently been conducting a drive to relocate the street vendors in the city.

On Saturday, Madan Sah along with a mob of 200 peoples gheraoed the Municipal office in the Paltan Bazar locality and staged a protest amid an ongoing meeting between the MLA Prashanta Phukan, Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Dibrugarh Municipal Board, as per the source.

Following the meeting, Sah gheraoed MLA Phukan's vehicle and demanded withdrawal of the order to relocate the vendors in the city.

He also allegedly abused the MLA and humiliated him in front of the local public.

On the other hand, Dibrugarh MLA urged him to solve his issues with the chairman and top officials of the board.

Not going by his suggestions, the agitated mob along with Sah barged inside the office of the Municipal Board and created a ruckus inside the premises.

Sources also informed that culprit Sah allegedly got physical with the vice chairman and ward members and vandalized the office.

Meanwhile, after being apprehended by Dibrugarh police, Sah told the media, "I just entered the municipal corporation's office for five minutes to meet the chairman, but I was physically assaulted and thrown out of the office. You can see the video footage that I did not conduct any crime."

It has also come to the fore that Sah was allegedly involved in collecting ‘hafta’ (extortion) money on a monthly basis from the roadside vendors in the name of Roadside Vendor Welfare Committee. Moreover, he allegedly tried to mislead the vendors against the Municipal Board on number of occasions.

However, his fraudulent method of extorting money was thwarted after the Dibrugarh Municipal Board recently chose to relocate the street sellers in the city, informed the sources further.

Also Read: Recent Evictions of Street Vendors by GMC Made Without Any Notice: NASVI