A meeting of Singhbhum Chamber of Commerce and Industry in progress on Wednesday. (Bhola Prasad)

Jamshedpur, Jan. 27: The trading community heaved a sigh of relief and reposed faith in the police in the wake of arrests of nine members of a gang that was behind most of the attacks on doctors and businessmen in the steel city.

However, the industry associations cautioned their members to remain on guard besides stressing that the police should put together a better intelligence gathering mechanism to check such incidents in the future. Further, the associations ruled out giving up demands for arms licence for willing members.

“We had never questioned the ability of the police and they have responded to our faith. Cracking the cases in such a short time is indeed a big achievement,” said general secretary of Singhbhum Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) Suresh Sonthalia.

He added that the trade body would soon invite the deputy commissioner and the superintendent of police to Chambers Bhavan for an interaction and would thank them for the breakthrough.

Sonthalia is also of the view that the police should now ease off the checking drive on city roads. According to him, the police order banning young pillion-riders on a motorbike should be withdrawn as common commuters were being harassed.

“The police are doing the right thing by frisking commuters. However, the commuters should not be harassed by asking to produce documents while plying on city roads,” said president of Jamshedpur Chamber of Commerce (JCC) Mohan Lal Agarwal.

Both he and Sonthalia stressed they would still pursue with their demand for arms licence for members of trade associations. Sonthalia further said industrialists should continue to follow the safety guidelines issued to them. “The police should also strengthen its intelligence gathering mechanism. It is important to strengthen policing at thana level to keep a tab on criminal activities in the city,” said secretary of SCCI Bharat Vasani.