PANJIM, April 18 -- During the last few days, the expectation amongst the taxi protestors was that the government would respond to their demands in some way or the other on the 12th day of their protest.

However, when the day arrived, the government did respond but not in the way the taxi operators were expecting them to.

In a move that left the taxi operators shocked and exasperated, the Azad Maidan was blocked by Panjim police on the ground that the protestors no longer had permission to use the site. Further, they were told that permission was given for some other function at Azad Maidan.

This led to chaotic scenes on Saturday morning as hundreds of taxi protestors continued to protest in the vicinity of Azad Maidan and the large ga...