NEW DELHI: An uneasy calm prevailed in Jahangirpuri on Thursday as the police barricaded areas across the C Block, near where the riot broke out, and restricted the flow of people through the gates of the block.
After Wednesday’s anti-encroachment drive, which saw entrance to the mosque being demolished, the Hindus in the area were seen voluntarily removing the gates of the Kali temple that was extended outside the legal limit. The temple is two shops away from the mosque.
Media persons were stopped from visiting the block. They could access Kushal Chowk where Congress and AAP leaders converged separately. In the morning, a man identifying himself as Daleep Saxena came forward and narrated how his juice shop was demolished. “My shop was not illegal. I have all the papers. This demolition is illegal,” said Daleep. He said he would go to court to demand compensation.
Meanwhile, Ganesh Gupta, whose juice shop too was damaged in the anti-encroachment drive conducted by the MCD on Wednesday, moved the Supreme Court where Sanjay Hedge represented him. The hearing is due in the next few days.
Meanwhile, locals did not leave their houses on Thursday as leaders from several political parties came visiting Jahangirpuri. All the balconies remained vacant and nobody from the area stepped out. Around 12.30 pm, 15 Congress leaders, including former Union minister Ajay Maken, MP Shakti Singh Gohil, Delhi Congress chief Anil Chaudhary and vice president Abhishek Dutt made a token visit to the area. The police denied them permission to visit the demolition-affected people.
He spoke with media persons and said that the Jahangirpuri demolition drive should not be seen from a communal angle. “We have come here to meet the victims. There is no policy that says demolitions can be carried out without a prior notice. We want to tell people that this incident should not be looked at from the prism of religion.”
Anil Chaudhary briefly sat in protest against the police for not allowing him and his party team to meet the victims of Wednesday’s demolition drive. In the afternoon, AAP leader Sanjeev Jha visited Kushal Chowk and spoke with media persons. Targeting the MCD, he said the demolition drive was not properly carried out. “Rohingya and Bangladeshi are illegal occupants of the area, but the way this encroachment removal programme was done was not right,” he added.