New Delhi, May 9 (IANS) Delhi Police have registered an FIR against Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan and his supporters for 'not allowing' South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) officials to carry out the proposed anti-encroachment drive in the Shaheen Bagh area on Monday.
"The FIR has been registered on the complaint of SDMC under Section 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code," DCP (southeast), Esha Pandey, said.
Earlier, SDMC licensing inspector, central zone, had lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police against Khan, alleging that the legislator and his supporters did not allow the field staff to remove the encroachments.
Notably, the police detained several people, including party workers, who were not allowing the SDMC to carry out the demolition drive at Shaheen Bagh.
After the agitation was quelled, the bulldozer moved forward to demolish the illegal encroachment, an iron structure in front of a building. It is at this juncture that Khan reached the spot and was seen speaking to the officials.
The 'illegal encroachment', i.e., an iron structure in front of the building, was then manually removed by the local people even as a bulldozer stood by.
The locals said that the iron structure installed in front of the building was not an 'illegal encroachment' but a shuttering.
"It has been installed for the renovation of the building," a local told IANS.
While speaking to mediapersons, Khan expressed strong resentment against SDMC's demolition drive and said he had himself inspected the whole area and spoken to every official, including the traffic police, and all the illegal encroachments were removed 3-4 days back.
"I had myself with my own JCB removed a toilet that was illegally constructed outside a mosque. This is nothing but vendetta politics. Just tell me where the encroachment is, and I will remove it myself. I am the local MLA," said the AAP leader.
She reached Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, by air in the morning from where she headed straight to her daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's cottage located amid forests of pine and cedar on the suburbs of the Himachal Pradesh capital.
Channi took oath of office along with his two deputies -- one a Jat Sikh and another belonging to the Hindu community -- at a simple ceremony here in the Punjab capital that was delayed for 20 minutes owing to the late arrival of party leader Rahul Gandhi.
Jasbir Singh Virk, president of Bhartiya Sikh Sangthan, has underlined the need to intensify the ongoing farmers' agitation and said that there was a need to shore up strength at the Delhi borders.
Punjab BJP President Ashwani Sharma told IANS that to control infighting in its party state unit, the Congress leadership made Channi ji (Charanjit Singh Channi) the Punjab Chief Minister but insulted the Dalit community by not allowing him to lead the party in the upcoming state Assembly polls.
The government and drug controller's office will have to take a decision on the third booster dose based on data and cases as times goes on and including how effective the vaccine is on the Delta virus variant, he added.
