Protesters held; Congress workers raise slogans
Wednesday, 15/07/2015
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AMRITSAR: Ahead of the visit of finance minister Arun Jaitley, the city police arrested social activist Sanjeev Rampal and 21 others — all members of the Majha Zone Property Dealers Association — in an early morning swoop to prevent what it feared would be a ‘shirtless’ protest against the recent decision of the government to ban property registries exceeding ` 20,000 in cash.
District Congress Committee members protesting the arrest of social worker Sanjeev Rampal and 21 others in Amritsar on Tuesday. They also demanded revocation of a rule banning registries above ` 20,000 in cash.
Police sources said those arrested planned a semi-naked protest and would have sported black flags on the Batala Road against Article 269 SS of the income tax law.
Even as the others were letoff later, Rampal continued to be detained at the Chheharta Police Station till the filing of this report.
Terming the arrest of Rampal as ‘ undemocratic’ Gurjeet Singh Aujla, president, district Congress Committee (rural) visited Rampal at Chheharta Police Station, where he also held a protest. Raising ‘Go Back Arun Jaitley’ slogans, Congress workers demanded revocation of the article. Rampal claimed the protest was peaceful and added, “Implementing the new rule 269SS of the income tax is draconian and is not in public interest.”
He added that the shirtless protest was aimed at apprising Jaitely as to how the laws implemented by the government had divested the public and the property dealers of the means of leading decent lives.
“The government has also implemented 1% infrastructure development fee on registries,” he said.
