Traders allege collection of 'goonda tax' in Kotkapura

Faridkot, December 16

Alleging collection of ‘goonda tax’ from them, members of the District Industry and Rice Millers Association today demanded that the police and the administration take necessary action as they were facing problems and receiving threats while running their businesses in the Kotkapura area.

A delegation of traders and industrialists today met the Deputy Commissioner and the SSP and told them that some henchmen of a political leader were forcibly collecting money from their private transport vehicles in Kotkapura. Those denying to pay this ‘goonda tax’ were getting threats from the henchmen, said traders.

In one case, they alleged that henchmen forcibly took away a truck loaded with 480 bags of rice bran and maize after severely thrashing its driver in Kotkapura on December 14.

In a complaint to the police, Harjinder Singh, a trader, alleged that after his driver refused to pay the ‘goonda tax’, eight miscreants thrashed him and forcibly took away the loaded truck that was on way from Kotkapura to Bathinda.

It has been alleged that a close associate of a senior AAP leader in the Kotkapura area has been handed over the work of managing the affairs of the local truck union recently. Traders and industrialists alleged they started facing the problem after this ‘appointment’.