The anti-encroachment drive in New Delhi’s Mehrauli continued for the fourth consecutive day on Monday amid heavy police and para-military forces deployment.
A large number of locals whose structures were declared illegal held a protest and created ruckus while demanding the action to be stopped. “We told them to wait for an hour during which the stay order will come. We had applied for a stay order. This is hooliganism. But they are not ready to wait,” the locals said.
Delhi Development Authority (DDA) however did not listen to their cry and went ahead with the demolition action.
Earlier on Sunday, raging protestors allegedly threw red chilli powder on the security personnel deployed at the protest site, prompting Delhi Police to issue a warning for suitable legal action.
The police also clarified that they did not resort to lathi charge and that claims of locals being injured were baseless.
An official statement from the DDA on Saturday said that the drive is intended to clear the unauthorised encroachments on the government’s land that houses protected monuments of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) among others was started by the DDA on Friday in co-ordination with Delhi Police at Lado Sarai Village falling in Mehrauli Archaeological Park.
The statement further read that a demarcation exercise, to identify the extent of unauthorized and illegal encroachment or construction, for the purpose of removing them, had been carried out as per the direction of the High Court by the Revenue Department, representatives, in the presence of DDA and Waqf Board.
