Demolition of Bellandur shanties: BBMP, police in blame game as hundreds become homeless

The police and the Bengaluru civic body played the blame game after a BBMP official sent orders to Marathahalli police to bring down the shanties.

The demolition of shanties in Bengaluru's Bellandur has put a BBMP engineer in a tight spot for 'ordering' the demolition without authorisation. (Photo | Meghana Sastry/ EPS) 

A blame game played out between the police and the local civic body after over 20 shanties were demolished at Kariyammana Agrahara in the Karnataka capital. (Photo | Meghana Sastry/ EPS)

The city police had sent a team to the site after issuing a notice to the landowner to have the inhabitants evicted as they were, according to the police, 'illegal migrants from Bangladesh'. (Photo | Meghana Sastry/ EPS)

Senior BBMP officials firmly denied that they had authorised the demolition. (Photo | Meghana Sastry/ EPS)

A thorough inquiry on Monday revealed that BBMP Assistant Executive Engineer (Mahadevpura Zone) Narayan Swamy had given a written order to the Marathahalli police to bring down the shanties. (Photo | Meghana Sastry/ EPS)

Narayana Swamy, in his defence, said he issued the order after residents had complained to him multiple times claiming the people living in the shanties were a nuisance to them. (Photo | Meghana Sastry/ EPS)

The unauthorised demolition has rendered over a hundred inhabitants homeless after their houses were destroyed. Many of them left the place for an alternative shelter, while some returned with some hope of their sheds, their homes, being rebuilt. (Photo | Meghana Sastry/ EPS)

Mahadevpura Zone Special Commissioner Randeep D said, 'He cannot pass any order unless it is our (BBMP) land. We have decided to take strict action against him. But we are conducting a further inquiry on the issue after which action will be taken against him.” (Photo | Meghana Sastry/ EPS)