HUDA patwari beaten up during special anti-encroachment drive

A drive to remove shacks and huts from near the Ghaggar bridge on Saturday turned violent, when the squatters thrashed a patwari with the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA). The people af fected by the drive also blocked traffic on the Panchkula-Yamunanagar highway.

A drive to remove shacks and huts from near the Ghaggar bridge on Saturday turned violent, when the squatters thrashed a patwari with the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA).

HT Image

The people af fected by the drive also blocked traffic on the Panchkula-Yamunanagar highway. The protesters claimed that the patwari, Sunder Lal, had been extorting money from them for not removing their hutments from the HUDA land.

However, he denied all such allegations. Junior Engineer Jaibir Singh led the drive under the supervision of duty magistrate Hitender Sharma.

Traf fic on the Panchkula Yamunanagar road remained blocked for 20 minutes before Chandimandir SHO inspector Arvind Kumar intervened and got the blockade removed.

The drive, however, was suspended due to the ruckus. Panchkula estate officer Mahavir Singh Yadav said that the squatters were given prior notice before eviction. He said that corruption allegations were made during such drives.

After the suspension of the drive, the HUDA team demolished the boundary wall of the house of Gurinder Singh Cheema, an Asian Games medal winner, in nearby Chowki village even as there were protests by the Cheema.