Gurgaon demolition drive goes awry

Gurgaon: At least 150 jhuggis on Friday were burnt in Sector 47, Gurgaon in a demolition drive carried out by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) resulting in violent clashes between the villagers and the police.

Gurgaon Ward (30) Councilor Nisha Singh who stood for supporting the jhuggi was allegedly beaten by the Gurgaon police. “The police snatched her mobile phone and started beating her and other activists”, said a source to NewsMobile. “They are currently at Sadar Police Station, Gurgaon,” the source further added. 

NewsMobile tried to reach the Police Commissioner for comment but he was not available. 

Gurgaon Administration Spokesperson told NewsMobile, “17 acres of government had been encroached upon and the team had gone to get it vacated. During this, people started pelting stone and the situation went awry. The situation is now under control and the land has been taken back. Action has been taken against the stone pelters.”

Violence broke out between the Gurgaon cops and the villagers of Fatehpur Jharsa village, after the demolition drive began on Friday morning around 10:30am. Around 400 cops including rapid action force (RAF) were deployed at the spot.

According to the villagers, they were not given prior notice that demolition would take place. The villagers, who were opposing the demolition, started pelting stones and glass bottles at the cops to ‘save their houses’. In return to which rounds were fired by the cops and police resorted to firing tear gas shells. Also, this led to police lathi charging them.

The police team arrested nearly 50 persons from the spot including women and children. The SDM of Gurgaon was too injured during the stone pelting.

It took nearly an hour for police to take the extreme step of lathi charge as the villagers were pelting stones on them and had refused to vacate the village.

The villagers, however, claimed that the land belonged to them and they were settled here for the past over 100 years. “These people have been staying here since 1938 and can produce evidence in this connection. Now suddenly, the government has rendered them homeless without any notice and rehabilitation plan”, said Pardeep Singh Kashyap, state vice president of Haryana Kashyap Rajput Sabha.

“We were shocked to see police in large numbers; they pelted stones on us and also threw tear gas shells. The police had surrounded the village and began the demolition drive. We also pelted stones on them as many of families were injured. They set fire to our houses and we have beard huge loss. We were outnumbered and had no choice but to helplessly watch the police raze our houses. They spared only temples and nothing else,” said Mukesh Yadav, a villager.