Marketers Selling Power Loom Product Manhandle Textile Flying Squad

GUWAHATI: Assamese gamosa, the cultural symbol of Assam, being beaten by its evil twins (low-cost power loom gamosas from outside the State) is no news. This is very common in the State. What is news is: for the first time some Fancy Bazar marketers of power loom gamosas ganged up and engaged themselves in a physical scuffle with a textile flying squad that was on duty and seizing evil twins of Assamese gamosa, on Wednesday.

Handloom flying squads comprise officials from the State Handloom and Textile department, district administrations and police personnel. Such squads are formed following directives from deputy commissioners. The flying squad that had to face maltreatment from a few roadside Fancy Bazar marketers selling power loom gamosas comprised Deputy Handloom Officer Bipul Das, textile designer Nipon Goswami, textile inspector Bhaskarjyoti Kalita, handloom jecured master Dhanjit Baishya and demonstrators Pradip Das and Bharat Das.

It so happened on Wednesday that when the flying squad was seizing the power loom-waved gamosas from a roadside vendor at Fancy Bazar, a few vendors teamed up and engaged themselves in a physical scuffle with the squad members. The flying squad had to lodge an FIR in that connection with the Panbazar police station. They squad told the police that the vendors had been repeatedly asked not to sell power loom gamosas as the malpractice robs the State weavers of their right remuneration.

Meanwhile, acting on a case registered under Section 294/353/323/34 of IPC, the police apprehended one of the vendors named Mahananda Rabha, hailing from Tangla and staying at Kumarpatty in Guwahati. The police, however, said that Rabha claims the gamosas on display for sale from his roadside shop were local gamosas, not their evil twins.

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