Police lathicharge slum dwellers in Vadodara

Vadodara, Nov 29 (UNI) Police today resorted to lathicharge and lobbed teargas shells after slum dwellers allegedly indulged in heavy stone-pelting during a demolition drive by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation's (VMC) eviction staff.

In the drive across the city, the VMC officials, along with policemen, razed the Santoshwadi slum, one of the biggest in the city, despite a violent protest by around 4,000 people living there.

They were demanding for proper rehabilitation by the government before their forcible eviction.

After a pitched battle between police and slum dwellers, the former drove out the mob using lathis.

VMC sources said all the 500-odd houses, located in the slum, were razed to the ground with the help of bulldozers.

Makarpura police claimed that no one was injured in the police action. A case of rioting has been registered against eight people in connection with stone-throwing incident but no arrest has been made so far, police said.

VMC sources said, the Corporation would go ahead with its ongoing eviction operation in the city and they would take up all security measures for the Kassanwadi slum eviction drive, scheduled for tomorrow.

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