Stone pelting, tear gas during MCD demolition drive near Delhi mosque, five injured
PTC News Desk: Tensions flared for a short time in Old Delhi on Wednesday when a few people tried to break through barricades and threw stones at police officers supervising a pre-dawn demolition to clear encroachments near a mosque, police said. Officers responded by using tear gas to disperse the crowd and soon controlled the situation.
According to Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) officials, the demolition started around 1 am near the Faiz-e-Ilahi mosque in the Turkman Gate area, following a Delhi High Court order to remove illegal structures. Seventeen bulldozers were used for the anti-encroachment drive. The action continued even though the Delhi High Court had issued a notice on Tuesday regarding a petition by the managing committee of Masjid Syed Elahi, which is challenging the MCD’s move to remove alleged encroachments on land next to the mosque and nearby graveyard at Ramlila Maidan.
The encroachments included portions of a road, a footpath, a community hall, a parking area and a private diagnostic centre.
"The action is still ongoing. MCD is doing the demolition. We have deployed our staff for security. The action started around 1 am. MCD conducted demolition as per the High Court's orders on the encroached land. Stones were thrown at the police at night. We used minimal force to pushback," Valsan said.
"Apart from that, the overall process was very smooth. Four to five officers suffered minor injuries. As soon as we get the CCTV camera footage, ground footage, and body camera footage, we will identify the miscreants and take legal action," the official added.
Madhur Verma, Joint Commissioner of Police, Central Range, said a few miscreants attempted to disrupt the drive by throwing stones. “The situation was promptly brought under control with minimal and measured use of force, ensuring that normalcy was restored without any escalation,” he said.
Local residents strongly opposed the demolition and gathered to protest. Police said enough personnel were stationed in and around the area to ensure the situation did not escalate. They added that several coordination meetings had been held with community representatives beforehand, along with preventive and confidence-building measures to maintain peace.
- With inputs from agencies
