Though Oza said that he had already met representatives of the Surat Grey Cloth Manufacturers Association (SGCMA) and was still in the process of conducting the inquiry, SGCMA office-bearers alleged that no fraudulent trader could operate unless the police was hand-in-glove with him.

Nearly one month after a spurt in cases of cheating of weavers by traders and a subsequent memorandum submitted to the Police Commissioner Maniram on October 12, there has been no progress in the inquiry against the Salabatpura police.

Said Shankarbhai Patel, general secretary of the SGCMA, that it was only because of the police inaction that they had to approach the commissioner. ``Even then, there hardly seems to be any progress in the matter,'' he alleged.

Reiterating the accusations against the lower-ranked policemen, particularly of the Salabatpura police station, that SGCMA made to the police commissioner, Patel alleged that it was just not possible for such fraudulent traders to operate without ``the knowledge and patronage of the police.'' He added, ``There are honest cops but corrupt ones as well and this makes matters worse for us''.

Moreover, what complicates the matters for the weavers is the system of dealing at the textile markets. Weavers sell grey cloth to traders and payments are usually made after a month's gap. With most of the dealings done on the spoken word, there is very little proof of the transactions.

But at the same time, it is not difficult to spot such traders, Shankarbhai claimed and added that traders who may go bust could be identified in the market fraternity.

He also claimed that such traders had connections in the police force and were thus going scot free only because they kept the police in good humour by sharing a percentage of the spoils with them.

``We can deal with such people and extract our money without much problem. But the police ask us not to take the law in our hands,'' Patel said, while citing a couple of examples where fraudulent traders were beaten up and the weavers managed to get back a portion of the money.

Oza, meanwhile, said that he had already commenced an inquiry and had even talked to the representatives, but could not make much headway as they had been out for Diwali vacations. ``I have to talk to them on individual cases and only then take some appropriate decision,'' he added.

When asked if prima facie he found that any Salabatpura police officer had erred, he replied in the negative. PI S M Rajput of the Salabatpura police station, against whom the traders have the most complaints, maintained that the police would solve all cases if given enough time.