Indore: Nearly 20 employees of Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) and others were injured when members of a removal gang of the IMC were attacked by slum dwellers of Bhuri Tekri area during a demolition drive in the locality.
Six IMC employees were admitted to hospitals. Some of them have been discharged after treatment. Kanadia police have registered a case on the complaint of IMC. Removal gang members had gone to Bhuri Tekri on Monday to demolish an eatery and bada (human settlement) there.
After demolishing the eatery and bada, the IMC moved its bulldozers in slums in the locality. They parked dumpers asking slum dwellers to vacate their shanties so that they could be shifted to other places under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. But they residents refused to vacate stating that they were not served any prior notice. However, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana project officer D R Lodhi said that they would have to evacuate. He called in more employees of removal gang from IMC, which infuriated the inhabitants.
A woman resident had a heated argument with IMC supervisor, which soon took a nasty turn. Slum dwellers wielding sticks and iron rods attacked removal gang members. Taken aback by the sudden attack, the employees ran away from the scene. However, they returned with more numbers in order to overpower the mob.
The IMC employees retaliated but they were again attacked by a mob of nearly 200 people who pelted stones at them. The employees fled to save their life but got injured. According to information, nearly 20 employees received injuries in the attack. “Six employees received severe injuries, so they were admitted to hospitals. Condition of one employee is critical,” said additional municipal commissioner Devendra Singh. The mob also damaged three IMC vehicles.
Dozen slum dwellers also injured
Over 12 people, including women and a minor girl were also injured when IMC removal gang beat them. Those injured include Nirmala Yadav (35) Shobha Pahadiya (35), Nikita (8), Bhuribai Devada (40), Dilip Devada (22), Raja Pahadiya (25), Rajaram Tomar, Shankar Ajnar and others.
The slum dwellers blamed IMC employees for the chaos at Bhuri Tekri. “IMC team came with bulldozers to our places and asked us to vacate houses. They did not give prior notices to us,” said Nirmala Yadav, who was injured in the clash. Slum dwellers claimed that IMC employees themselves vandalised their vehicles to show that residents were to be blamed.
Drive sans police
The removal gang of IMC had gone to the Bhuri Tekri unprepared. Generally, police teams accompany removal gang but on Tuesday the removal gang reached Bhuri Tekri without police protection. Seeing them unarmed, the residents attacked the removal gang members. Devendra Singh said that the removal gang had gone to demolish illegal portion of an eatery there but they also moved towards shanties in the locality. “Without police presence, the IMC employees should have not proceeds in the locality,” he admitted.