CURATED BY – LAKESH PANCHESHWAR | CITYCHIEFNEWS

Lalbarra: The illegal business of junk dealers is flourishing openly around the city's police station. From the police station in-charge to the police staff, everyone is visiting the junk shop operators daily. The illegal goods kept in the shops are also being monitored but the police is unable to muster the courage to take action against the junk dealers, this is the reason that now thieves are easily selling illegal goods in junk shops. The business of thieves and junk dealers has increased due to the inaction of the responsible people. A line of junk shops starts from behind and around the police station. The police is unable to muster the courage to inspect the junk shops and take action against the junk dealers or close their shops if they are found making illegal purchases. Junk shops are being operated with police protection, there is no restriction by the police and administration in this business and no investigation from time to time. Junk dealers keep junk material spread on the road, operators are fearlessly buying iron and wire of electric transformers and then supplying it at high prices to other places. Dismantling bikes into parts and selling other stolen goods in junk has become a common practice. Incidents of theft have also increased. These days, junk shops are being operated everywhere from the streets of the city to rural areas. All operators are buying hundreds of quintals of iron scrap every week, no one knows from where such a large quantity of iron and tin is coming, on the other hand, as the number of junk shops has increased, incidents of theft are also increasing. Thieves are committing theft in new areas.
Officials are pretending to be ignorant even after knowing
Whether it is a two wheeler or a four wheeler, junk dealers always buy it after seeing the papers but in Lalbarra, junk dealers have sold many vehicles without papers. Even dozens of vehicles are cut and sold in a single paper. Reliable sources have given information about many government properties being bought as scrap and police officers are also aware of this information, yet no action being taken against the scrap dealers is giving rise to suspicion. Last year, when media personnel received a complaint, a scrap shop located near Mokshadham was visited and many objectionable materials including government property like parts of hand pump, hand pump pipes, PWD signboards and its plaques, water motor etc. were seen, news of which was also published in several newspapers, yet no action has been taken by the responsible administrative staff since then till now.