Bulldozer Action Sparks Clash in Gumla: Vegetable Market Becomes Battlefield, Shopkeepers Express Anguish

A dispute erupted in Gumla, Jharkhand, when municipal council personnel attempted to remove vegetable shops from the Jashpur Road, adjacent to NH-78. The ensuing confrontation turned the vegetable market into a battleground for about half an hour. The situation escalated when a municipal council employee allegedly struck a female vegetable vendor and her child with a bamboo stick during the anti-encroachment drive. This action triggered outrage among the vendors, who retaliated by attacking the municipal council staff. The police intervened to protect the employees. In response to the bulldozer action, the irate shopkeepers blocked the Ranchi-Chhattisgarh road near the Bengali Club on Jashpur Road, causing a traffic jam from 12 noon to 2 pm. The road was cleared after SDPO Suresh Prasad and Inspector Mahendra Karmali intervened and persuaded the protestors. A subsequent meeting was held at the police station involving the municipal council and vegetable vendors to resolve the issue.