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Thousands of police supported municipal officers in closing scores of illegal shops and other establishments in the Indian capital on Wednesday as part of a controversial court-driven move that has outraged traders.
In several areas of the sprawling capital, shutters, grills and iron gates of shops were sealed with red wax as armed policemen kept a wary eye on groups of sullen traders.
On Monday, India's Supreme Court ordered authorities in the city of 14 million people to resume their drive to shut about 40,000 shops, nursing homes, automobile workshops and computer institutes illegally operating in residential areas.
Traders' groups say the move will result in financial ruin for thousands of shopowners - many running their establishments for decades - and job losses for hundreds of thousands of employees.
"How will I feed my children? They have shut down my business. My daughter is asking me to pay her tuition fee but I can't," said the distraught owner of a car repair workshop who gave his last name as Rana.
"I am an honest citizen doing business for years. Now I have been shut down by the government," the middle-aged businessman said in front of his shuttered workshop, its lock covered by white gauze and red wax. Nearby, police, some armed with automatic rifles, kept a crowd of traders and onlookers behind a metal barricade. Police reported no violence.
Officials also shut down the office of the country's telecom regulator, operating in a residential area. Most schools remained shut on Wednesday, fearing trouble.
The civic clean-up started earlier this year after the Supreme Court said commercial outlets on at least 2,000 city roads passing through residential areas were illegal.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2006

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