NEW DELHI: Railways today said that the death of a child in Shakurbasti had nothing do with its encroachment drive in the slum cluster for which adequate notices were given to the locals.
Railways said the encroachment drive was carried out yesterday as land was required for its new passenger terminal. "A number of notices were issued to encroachers to vacate railway land during the last nine months.Notice to vacate before 30 September, 2015 was given but they did not vacate," railways said in a statement.
Another notice was given for vacating the land yesterday, it said. The encroachment removal started at 11.50 hrs under police protection and was completed by the evening.
"When police RPF and railway officials gathered at the site it was noticed that the death of a child had occurred in one of the jhuggies at around 10 AM," it said, adding that, "Railways had nothing to do with the removal of encroachments which started at around 1200 hours".
After assessing the situation Ishwar Singh, SHO Punjabi Bagh had given notice for clearance at 11.50 hrs.
"The joint note of police RPF and railway officials at site indicate that removal was done peacefully. The removal was in the knowledge of DUSIB officials," the statement said.