Jeweller succumbs to cardiac arrest ‘after GST raid’; Jeypore traders call 12-hour bandh tomorrow

Ascribing the death of a gold trader to GST raid, the Jeypore Chamber of Commerce has called for a 12-hour market bandh on Saturday. 

As per reports, the GST Department had conducted a raid on New Vasavi Jewellers, owned by P Haraprasad Rao, on the occasion of Dhanteras on Tuesday. On Diwali, Rao allegedly suffered a cardiac arrest and succumbed. 

The deceased’s brother, P Rajesh Kumar alleged that his brother had been under huge stress following the raid by the GST Department on the occasion of Dhanteras. 

As per reports, Haraprasad was asleep throughout the Diwali night and didn’t wake up till 8 am. Subsequently, his family members took Haraprasad to the hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.

“He was the ultimate victim. He was under huge stress due to the frequent raids on his shop and eventually he succumbed to the high level of stress,” said P Rajesh Kumar.

In response, Jeypore Chamber of Commerce has called for a 12-hour market bandh on Saturday in protest against Haraprasad’s death for the alleged GST raid on his shop on the festival occasion.

“The raid was conducted during the maximum business hour. The tragic incident happened as the young and self-employed youth was intimidated. He could not take the pressure and was unable to cope with the severe stress. At least the Chamber of Commerce should have been informed before conducting the raid,” said P Prabhakar Rao, president of Jeypore Chamber of Commerce.

However, the GST officials refuted the allegations against them.

“We had raided the jewellery shop with proper permission from the authorities. We had only noted his stock position. He was unable to produce the required documents and as per his promise, we had set October 5 for him to produce the necessary documents. We have also allowed him to continue his business and he was happy. However, we came to know about his death today. We felt sorry for him on humanitarian grounds,” said Akshay Mishra, GST Officer of GST Enforcement Department, Jeypore.