During an anti-encroachment drive by the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) near the 1090 Crossing in Lucknow, a Kashmiri vendor was reportedly slapped, and several dry fruit sellers were rounded up and taken away in police vehicles.
Videos of the incident circulated on social media, showing police allegedly manhandling the vendors.
In one video, a police officer was seen slapping a young vendor while forcing him into a police van. Other LMC officials were observed dragging additional sellers on the bridge over the Gomti near 1090 Crossing. According to the vendors, they were in the process of removing their goods when authorities began discarding their materials and forcefully pulling them into vehicles in response to their protests.
Contrary to the vendors’ claims, the police asserted that the removal was necessary due to a VIP movement scheduled for the stretch between 1090 to Samta Mulak. The Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), East, Ashish Srivastava, explained that the LMC conducts periodic anti-encroachment drives on this VIP road with police assistance. On the day of the incident, the Chief Minister was expected to use the road, prompting the LMC to clear the area of encroachments.
The DCP stated that the youth selling dry fruits had allegedly misbehaved with LMC authorities, leading to their forceful removal and subsequent detainment at the police station. The vendors were reportedly charged under Section 151 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and cautioned to avoid the specified stretch due to VIP movement.
One of the vendors countered, saying, “We have been selling dry fruits here for the last 10 years. We travel 2,000 kilometers to earn a livelihood. We have children to feed, as we have no work there in Kashmir. We are here only for selling and not begging.”
The vendors further claimed that officials abused and mistreated them during the incident.