Bhopal, May 21: Police today resorted to lathicharge and bursting of teargas shells after residents resorted to brickbatting against a Corporation demolition team which has come to demolish two floors of the club house at Minal Residency on J K Road here.
The residents alleged that Muncipal Corporation officials along with a large posse of policemen had come to demolish nearly 600 flats built by a private builder Raj Homes.
Sub Divisional Magistrate Malati Mishra however denied this and said that only two floors of the club house were being demolished.
There had been reports that the entire duplex township had been built illegally on government land by Raj Homes in 2000. A few months ago Corporation officials had blown up the Minal Mall.
As brickbatting began, police resorted to lathicharge and teargas.
Several policemen were seen damaging nearly 250 two-wheelers and a dozen cars parked nearby.
Superintendent of Police, Yogesh Choudhary told PTI that a team of police, corporation and administration officials had gone to Minal Residency to demolish the houses.
The protesters including a number of women objected to the proposed demolition following which an altercation took place. This prompted the police to resort to mild lathicharge and bursting of teargas shells.
The Leader of Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Ajay Singh has launched a sit-in to register his protest against the police action in Minal Residency area.
"It should be remembered that my father and former Chief Minister Arjun Singh had regularised hutments in the state, but the present government is demolishing legally built houses as well," he told reporters at the sit-in.
"I have no idea about what is going on between the builders and the government, but I only want that innocent residents should not be unnecessarily harassed," Ajay told reporters at the site of his agitation.
He said that his agitation would continue till the residents were given assurance that no police action would continue against them and the arrested would be freed.
Ajay alleged that the Madhya Pradesh Urban Development Minister Babulal Gaur, who is a local MLA, "was not bothered about the residents" and added that the action reminded him of the treatment of the Jews by Hitler.
"I have spoken to the Chief Secretary and urged him to send officials to assure the residents that no further action would continue against them," he said.
Women residents from the area also spoke said that they had not received any notice for the demolition of their houses and also complained that several atrocities were inflicted upon them. PTI
