WARANGAL: A shopping mall’s publicity stunt brought traffic in Warangal circle to a standstill for over 45 minutes on Tuesday. Finally, police had to intervene and ask the mall owner to shutdown the showroom to restore order. In a bid to boost business, mall owner Kasam Pullaiah had advertised in newspapers that he was selling sarees at just Rs 3 per piece.
As news of the strange discount sale spread like wildfire, women from the city and surrounding areas started lining up outside the showroom as early as 8 am in the morning. By noon, women were seen standing in a line that stretched over a kilometre from the mall that is located in a crowded market area.
While the crowd surrounding the shop brought traffic to a standstill, a few overzealous customers were pushing and jostling, creating a stampede-like situation. Soon, a large contingent of police was rushed to the spot, who asked the mall owner to shutdown for the day. This did not improve the situation and police had to forcefully remove the women to restore vehicular movement. Later, cops reportedly pulled up the mall owner for announcing the discount offer.