Vendor who wore skull cap to 'protect' business goes missing
Vadodara This Friday he was to officially convert to Islam. But Sunil Bhalegare, who wore skull cap to make a point on the alleged bias shown by the BJP-ruled Vadodara Municipal Corporation in removing encroachments, has gone missing.
A roadside tea vendor outside the General post
office in Raopura area of the city, Bhalegare was under the impression that VMCs anti-encroachment squad was targetting only vendors of a particular community.
So he wore a skull cap to protect his business and has now gone missing since Thursday.
He had claimed that Muslim vendors were spared by the encroachment removal squads.
When The Sunday Express team visited the spot where he was doing business till October 13, the place was deserted while other nearby vendors were doing business as usual.
His family says they will register a formal complaint with police if he did not return home by Sunday. They said they were not aware of his whereabouts.
We never thought that such a small issue would become a serious problem in our family. He has not returned home for the last two days. We thought he must be disturbed and would come back after he would calm down but he has not returned, said Nilesh Bhalegare, the eldest of the three brothers, who runs a tea stall near Kharchikar no Khancho in the same area.
I think it is more of a political issue and I pray it ends soon. If God wills, his business would flourish again. We will discuss within the family and accordingly take the decision to approach the police, he added.
His younger brother Mahesh said, We have no idea where he is. On Friday night, he went out as usual to his tea stall but did not return. I was in Pune but after learning about this, I came back immediately. He never portrayed this as a huge issue and his family also thought things would become normal. But instead, it has blown out of proportion.
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/vendor-who-wore-skull-cap-to-protect-business-goes-missing/860503/
A roadside tea vendor outside the General post
office in Raopura area of the city, Bhalegare was under the impression that VMCs anti-encroachment squad was targetting only vendors of a particular community.
So he wore a skull cap to protect his business and has now gone missing since Thursday.
He had claimed that Muslim vendors were spared by the encroachment removal squads.
When The Sunday Express team visited the spot where he was doing business till October 13, the place was deserted while other nearby vendors were doing business as usual.
His family says they will register a formal complaint with police if he did not return home by Sunday. They said they were not aware of his whereabouts.
We never thought that such a small issue would become a serious problem in our family. He has not returned home for the last two days. We thought he must be disturbed and would come back after he would calm down but he has not returned, said Nilesh Bhalegare, the eldest of the three brothers, who runs a tea stall near Kharchikar no Khancho in the same area.
I think it is more of a political issue and I pray it ends soon. If God wills, his business would flourish again. We will discuss within the family and accordingly take the decision to approach the police, he added.
His younger brother Mahesh said, We have no idea where he is. On Friday night, he went out as usual to his tea stall but did not return. I was in Pune but after learning about this, I came back immediately. He never portrayed this as a huge issue and his family also thought things would become normal. But instead, it has blown out of proportion.
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/vendor-who-wore-skull-cap-to-protect-business-goes-missing/860503/
Comments