Bhatkal: Schools and colleges were shut down in the taluk as tension prevailed following the act of a man setting himself on fire and protesters pelting stones at the TMC on 14th September, Thursday.
Ramachandra Naik, a shopkeeper is the one who set himself on fire opposing the action of Bhatkal Town Muncipal Council of vacating its 34 TMC shops that were illegally occupied by vendors.
According to the sources, angered by the TMC’s decision of vacating the shops, Ramachandra went to the TMC complex and set himself ablaze. His brother Ishwar Naik who went to rescue him was also injured in the incident.
Both the brothers were admitted to Manipal hospital as their body sustained 50% and 25% burns respectively. The Block Education Officer gave an order to shut down schools and colleges in the town as a preventive measure. Most of the shopkeepers also kept their shops closed.
Following the incident, a protest was staged by the locals and some of them even pelted stones at the TMC office. They burned tyres at the Shamshuddin Circle and also threatened to block the National Highway. Hundreds of police personnel were deployed by the district administration of Uttara Kannada in order to take the situation under control. However, the situation calmed down after DC S S Nakul, SP Vinayak Patil and additional superintendent of police Gopal Byakod visited the spot.
Speaking to the protestors, DC Nakul said, "Around thirteen months have been completed since the auction of municipality shops. To legitimize your rights, sufficient time was given to the shopkeepers". He also added saying that they were helpless now as they had to obey the order issued by the high court.
Speaking to SahilOnline, DC said, "Around five days back, when the officials tried to vacate the shops, the shopkeepers requested for additional time of five days. Later after five days, when the officials on Thursday went to vacate, one among the shopkeepers attempted a suicide by setting himself ablaze. Presently, we have kept the vacating process on hold after talking with protestors and shopkeepers. They can approach us if they have any documents related to the shop, so that we may help them within the limits of the law. And also, we may be helpless if they don't have any of the documents".
"Apart from this, we have now given them a time period of five more days", he added.