Locals protest on the third day of the DDA’s demolition drive in Mehrauli on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: ANI
The police on Sunday said some women protesting against the ongoing anti-encroachment drive of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in south Delhi’s Mehrauli were detained.
“We detained some [women] under Section 65 of the Delhi Police Act. The protesters were soon dispersed and the drive went on smoothly,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Chandan Chowdhary said.
A senior officer said the detained women, who were released in the evening, allegedly threw chilli powder at police personnel. The DCP said that the concerned personnel were given medical attention.
The DDA has been carrying out the drive since Friday in areas that are part of the Mehrauli Archaeological Park where, it said, “unauthorised encroachments” have come up. Conducted amid heavy police security, the demolitions have drawn protests from local residents.
Shabnam Begum, one of the protesters and a nurse who lives in the area, however, said the police detained the wrong people. “Someone did throw chilli powder from the crowd. But the police took 4-5 women who were protesting peacefully. There were so many people in the crowd, we don’t know who threw it,” she said, adding that the cops did not resort to violence but they forcibly “dragged the protesters” away from the area.
On Saturday, the DDA had said that nearly 1,200 square metres of its land was reclaimed from “encroachers” on Friday and that the exercise will continue in the coming days. The urban body said the “encroached” land, in Ladha Sarai village, houses nearly 55 monuments under the protection of Archaeological Survey of India, Delhi government’s Department of Archaeology, and the DDA.
The Delhi government on Saturday had said the demarcation of the particular area — an exercise carried out by its own Revenue Department — had “fallacies” and the survey report has now been struck down. Ordering a fresh demarcation exercise in the area, it had urged the DDA to stop the demolition drive.