57 shops sealed in Balambat bazaar

TIMERGARA: The police on Wednesday sealed 57 shops in Balambat bazaar for failing to renew the rent agreement.

Station House Officer (SHO), Balambat Police Station, Bakht Jamal, said shops were the property of police department for which the shopkeepers had been paying nominal rent for the last 40 years.

The department wanted 10 percent increase yearly in rent, he said, adding, the shopkeepers agreed to pay 10 percent increase after every three years. Dozens of shopkeepers in Balambat staged a protest against what they called unjust increase in the annual rent of shops and blocked Timergara-Balambat Road for some time.

The affected shopkeepers, including Naqibullah, Fachai Khan, Azizur Rahman, Hayat Khan, Abdur Razaq and Wazir Khan said the court had raised the rent from Rs112 to Rs 400 per month and ordered for fixation of annual increase in rent with the consent of both the parties.

However, they alleged that only after a lapse of few months, the police wanted to renew the agreement and increase the rent. They expressed willingness for eight percent increase yearly.

The shopkeepers said they had paid Rs3000 each to the then police officials for construction of police station some 40 years ago. “We have been paying Rs80 per month,” one of the shopkeepers said, adding, the increase in the rent was against the agreement.They accused the police of sealing their shops without serving a legal notice on them.