NGO claims Covid care centre in Gurugram vandalised by owner of plot

NGO officials said they had a verbal agreement with the owner to use the site till June 30 and then find an alternative site.

A Covid care centre set up by a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Sector 61 near Badshahpur was ransacked on Thursday morning, allegedly by the landowner, who wanted the camp to be removed from the site, members of the NGO alleged. The foundation officials said there was no patient at the facility at the time of the incident.

Evacuation work in progress at Hemkunt Oxygen Centre in Sector 61 after some dispute with locals in Gurugram. (Vipin Kumar / Hindustan Times)

NGO officials said they had a verbal agreement with the owner to use the site till June 30 and then find an alternative site.

JP Singh, HR director of Hemkunt Foundation, the NGO, alleged that tents, boards and other items inside the camp were damaged and they were forced to close the facility. A police complaint was lodged in the evening by the foundation at the Sector 65 police station.

Police officials said it is a dispute between the landowner and the foundation, but added that a case under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 427 (mischief causing damage) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC was registered. Police said of the 22 people booked, only two, including the landowner, were named in the FIR.

Deepak Kumar, SHO of Sector 65 police station, said a police team and the subdivisional magistrate of Badshahpur, Satish Yadav, visited the spot as soon as they received a complaint. “The landowner is planning to set up his own makeshift oxygen centre for residents and they have been asking the Hemkunt Foundation to vacate. There is no legal or written agreement between the parties, due to which they are bound to vacate the private property. We have intervened and given two days to shift their set up,” said Kumar.

Yash Garg, the deputy commissioner of Gurugram, said they have deployed police at the site as a precautionary measure. “I will be holding a discussion with them and an appropriate site would be given based on the requirement,” he said.

The care centre set up by the foundation had 150 beds and 350 chairs to provide oxygen support to Covid-19 patients.

Following the incident, a representative of the foundation took to social media and alleged they were being forcibly evicted by the locals. Within minutes, around 1,000 users retweeted it and the post got more than 240 reactions.

Singh, who is also in charge of the camp, said they had already paid 3.5 lakh to the landowner. “The owner came to the camp on Wednesday and asked us to vacate the site within a day. How is this possible? We asked them to wait till June 30 so that we could make alternative arrangements. Action should be taken against miscreants,” said Singh.

The landowner did not respond to text messages and phone calls requesting comment.