Issue4 final

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The Observer An IIJNM publication

Vol 17, Issue 4

Thursday, September 14, 2017

The Observer

@theweeklyobserver On the Web: issuu.com/ theweeklyobserver/docs/ the_observer

The Observer spoke to a cross-section of people present at the Rally for Resistance held to protest against the murder of activist and journalist Gauri Lankesh | Turn to page 2

Rs 300 a day: City Market vendors lose half of their earnings to extortionists Say they have not complained to cops out of fear Manashaa Ganesan manashaa.g@iijnm.org

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hopkeepers at KR Market have allegedly become victim of an extortion racket. Each of them, several shopkeepers informed The Observer, has to pay Rs 300 every day to the racketeers. Kannapa, who has run a shop in the market for years, said: “We depend on the government for help, but there is none forthcoming I would not want my children to work in a market, no matter what. At the end of the day, little money is left to sustain our families.” Ibrahim, a fruit vendor, said: “The corporation allows some to put up their shops outside and on the pavements inside the market. Every day, Rs 10 has to be given to corporation people. They collect money from the vendors both in

Illegal shops on the road outside KR Market,(Right) A pile of garbage dumped in the KR Market parking area | Photo: Manashaa Ganesan the morning and in the evening.” But it seems not all vendors in the market have to pay the racketeers. A BBMP official who did not wish to be named said: “It has been happening for a long time now. The shopkeepers are migrants from Tamil Nadu. They do not have any other place to set up their shops.”

A traffic constable The Observer spoke to corroborated what the official said. The shopkeepers have not complained to police so far, fearing that doing so will land them and their families in trouble. They said they have to pay about half of their daily earnings to the racketeers. City Market sub-inspector V.

Praveen said: “So far, no complaints have been filed by anyone. If such a thing happens, we will look out for them and file an FIR against them.” An assistant subinspector, refusing to identify himself, said: “If any further information is needed, visit the BBMP office of the City Market.” Besides the forcible collection of money, the shopkeepers said,

there are other issues that deplete their profit. The cold storage is not maintained properly, leading to huge quantities of vegetables, fruits and flowers going waste. The market does not have a proper waste-management system, they said. The lack of proper roofing makes matters worse, they complained.

20 soft-toy sellers struggle to Crime rises in Bengaluru; make a living along highway only murder cases fall 64% increase in cases of dacoity, 29% in chain-snatching cases

Pracheta Panja pracheta.p@iijnm.org

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bout 80 soft-toy sellers on the Bengaluru-Mysuru Road are struggling to make ends meet. Living in bambooand-tarpaulin hovels, they have open spaces for toilets, live without electricity, and have to buy water from tankers. Rakhi and Dinesh, residents of the slum, informed The Observer: “We buy stuffing from a nearby market, make toys and sell them to make a living. Sometimes, sales are good, but there are times when we cannot provide our children sufficient food.” The 20 families, mostly from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, live amidst snakes and insects, they said. They migrated to Anchepalya, opposite Rajarajeswari Medical College and Hospital, Kumbalgodu, 12 years ago.“Years ago, there used to be a school where our children used to go. But after a few months, the teacher

Sreejani Bhattacharyya sreejani.b@iijnm,org

B The slum-dwellers, like Rakhi, make a living by producing soft toys | Photo: Pracheta Panja stopped taking classes and it was shut down. Most of our children are illiterate like us,” said Sonu, a resident of the slum. >>‘Were told to move out’, page 2

engaluru saw an increase in crime from January to July this year compared to the same period in 2016, according to monthly data obtained by The Observer from police. Dacoity cases went up by 64%, rising from 36 to 59. Chain-snatching cases spiked from 145 to 188, a growth of 29%. Speaking to The Observer about crime-prone areas, DCP (south) Sharanappa SD (in photo) said: “Girinagar,

Hanumanthnagar, Konanakunte and Subramanyapura are areas… where crimes happen frequently. Motor vehicle thefts and chain-snatching incidents are common here. A lot of chain-snatchings are carried out by outsiders. A major reason for this is lack of preventive measures taken by the victims.” However, murders decreased from 142 cases to 129, a decline of 9%. Robbery cases more than doubled, rising from 163 to 354. Under the Pocso Act, 2012 — enacted to protect children from sexual assault and exploitation — 207 cases were booked in January-July this year compared to 174 in the same timeframe in 2016, an increase of 19%. Gambling cases spiked from 181 to 210, indicating a rise of 16%.


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