IMPHAL, July 19: A demonstration of women vendors of the Emoinu Ima Keithel turned into an ugly skirmish after a councillor of the Imphal Municipal Council turned violent and tried to hit the women vendors with a wooden chair.
The incident happened this evening inside the IMC Conference hall, where the IMC chairman and councillors were holding a meeting when the women vendors stormed inside the hall.
Earlier in the day, women vendors of the Emoinu Ima Keithel had converged together at the Keithel area around 10 am and proceeded towards the IMC complex demanding revocation of the IMC order allocating seat no 7 and 8 of the Emoinu keithel to 25 new vendors.
The vendors charged that the seats are presently occupied and as such it cannot accommodate new vendors.
Shouting slogans demanding revocation of the order, and carrying a banner which alleged the IMC of underhand dealings in the allocation, the women vendors proceeded towards the IMC building.
On reaching the building the demonstrators stormed into the conference hall of the building where a meeting between the chairman and the councillors was underway.
Even as the vendors tried to storm inside the conference hall, councillor Umesh picked up a wooden chair and tried to hit the women vendors for disrupting the meeting.
Meanwhile, the Village Defence Force personnel on duty at the IMC premise interrupted the skirmish and herded the women vendors outside the IMC building.
Even after being herded outside the building the mob of women vendors remained adamant that the councillor who tried to hit the women vendors should apologies for his act. The women vendors were dispersed by a team of city police led by OC RK Tejbir.