The panchayat officials, who were on an inspection, had slapped a fine of Rs 500 on Srinivasan, the owner of a textile shop on KVP Theatre Road, for not adhering to social distancing norms.

It is said that Srinivasan broke into a quarrel with the staff questioning the rationale behind imposing a penalty when he was just alone in the shop. He also refused to pay the fine.

Followed by a warning, the panchayat staff brought a heap of garbage and dumped it in front of his shop. This attitude of the panchayat staff was, however, met with an objection by the shopkeepers in the neighbourhood.

“Different teams from panchayat and health department are forcefully collecting Rs 200 to Rs 500 from shops saying COVID-19 norms were not followed. Most of the time, they do not provide a bill for the fines collected. The shopkeepers, who were already in crisis due to poor sales are facing further trouble due to harassment by these staff,” said a shopkeeper.

Due to the presence of many power looms, several textile shops are located in the Elampillai area. Meanwhile, the CCTV footage of the staff dumping garbage in front of the textile shop has been circulated widely in social media.