SC stops anti-encroachment drive at violence-hit Jahangirpuri, to hear case tomorrow

New Delhi, Apr 20: Supreme court has ordered a status-quo on the demolition drive conducted by North Delhi Municipal Corporation in Jahangirpuri, Delhi.

The demolition drive was started by the authorities at violence-hit Jahangirpuri on Wednesday, even as the local mayor called it a "routine exercise".

Responding to the Supreme Court order, Raja Iqbal Singh the Mayor of North Delhi Municipal Corporation, said, We will follow the SC order & take action accordingly.

Heavy police and paramilitary forces were deployed to avoid any untoward incidents.

The drive is undertaken a day after Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta wrote to the party-ruled North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) to identify illegal constructions of "rioters" in Jahangirpuri and demolish them using bulldozers.

"Our JCBs (excavators) and staff will go to Jahangirpuri to remove illegal encroachment from roads and government land. It is our routine exercise. We will execute it and return," Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh had said earlier.

Officials said security forces were carrying out a flag march in the area and they took stock of the situation before the drive was launched. A drone has also been deployed to monitor the situation. Ahead of the drive, people in Jahangirpuri C Block voluntarily removed their belongings from roadsides, they said.

The NDMC had on Tuesday requested the Delhi Police to provide at least 400 security personnel to maintain law and order during the two-day drive. The area witnessed violent clashes,