RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, Nov 25: Twenty-four houses constructed on the Indian Railways land near Birsa Chowk in the heart of Jharkhand capital without permission were demolished on Friday.
In the exercise which left over 100 people homeless in winter season, jawans of Railway Protection Force and Jharkhand Police participated. The jawans were equipped with two earth movers and were under the supervision of a magistrate. The exercise started around 11am and continued till 2pm.
As the demolition drive continued, people raised anti-government slogans. One of the affected people said he was staying there for more than 40 years and the government should have done some alternative arrangement for stay before demolishing the house.
“I have spent my whole life here. Several notices were served to us earlier but we continued to stay. I have never expected that the government would take such an inhumane action against us,” an old lady said crying.
Officer-in-charge of Jagannathpur police station, Arvind Kumar, confirmed the development saying there was not much resistance as encroachers were given prior notices and they were mentally prepared for the action.
“As many as 40 houses were targeted. After partial demolition, time was given to people to remove their belongings. People also started removing their belongings. I do not anticipate any trouble. As Indian Railway has increased the number of tracks the exercise has started otherwise people remained there undisturbed for many years,” OC Kumar said.
