Footpath mamool mafia thrives as hawkers back at Charminar
Updated Feb 15, 2021, 11:18 am IST
If anyone refuses to pay, the goons harass them and at times, the cops also At times, even cops harass us
Calling the shots around Charminar and Mecca Masjid are goons and self-styled pahelwans, who collect mamool. DC Image
HYDERABAD: The ‘Footpath Mamool mafia’, operating around Charminar is back, almost immediately after the street side hawkers returned for business.
Goons and
pahelwans are back to extorting ‘mamools’ or protection money from hawkers while the shop-keepers too step in to imposing and collecting a little ‘fee’ for allowing hawkers to peddle their wares in front of their shops.
During the lockdown the hawkers near Charminar were gone and for several months they didn’t come back with their stalls. But since the lockdown has been lifted and the number of COVID cases gone down, the hawkers are coming back. With them the ‘Footpath Mamool mafias’ are also coming back. These ‘Footpath Mamool mafias’ demand money from the hawkers. Force them to pay up and