Shaheen Bagh demolition drive: 'Illegal structure' manually removed, bulldozer leaves area

New Delhi, May 9, 2022

An alleged illegal iron structure in front of a building was manually removed by the people even as a JCB bulldozer stood by during the proposed demolition drive in the Shaheen Bagh area of the national capital on Monday.

The locals said that the iron structure installed in front of the building was not an illegal encroachment.

"It has been installed for the renovation of the building," said one of the local residents.

As per latest reports, the process of demolition is yet to start. However, the situation remains tense as the area is jam-packed with hundreds of people moving around. Police, along with para military forces, could also be seen moving forward.

The JCB bulldozer, brought in for Monday's anti-encroachment drive in Shaheen Bagh, has now left the area and moved towards Sarita Vihar.

Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan, who is also on the spot, interacted with the officials. The people raised slogans in favour of the AAP MLA.

While speaking to media, Khan stated that he had himself inspected the whole area and spoken to every official, including the traffic police.

"I had, with my own JCB, removed a toilet that was illegally constructed outside a mosque. This is just vendetta politics. Just tell me where the encroachment is. If still there is an illegal structure. Tell me, I will myself remove it. I am the local MLA," the AAP MLA said.

Even the locals said that all the illegal structures in the area were already removed by the people just a few days back.

Notably, Monday's demolition drive comes 19 days after a similar drive was conducted in the communal violence-hit Jahangirpuri area of the city. In that drive, several illegal structures, including cold drink booths and shops, were demolished.

The Shaheen Bagh area had, betweenNovember 2019 and March 2020, become the epicentre of the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests.

NNN