MCD officials seal property, lock senior citizen inside

The haste of the MCD's sealing and demolition men and jack up the civic agency's records left a senior citizen trapped inside his house for more than five hours on Thursday.

The haste of the MCD's sealing and demolition men and jack up the civic agency's records left a senior citizen trapped inside his house for more than five hours on Thursday.

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SC Singhal, 71, was locked inside his house in South Extension Part 1 by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi's sealing squad.

“My husband and I have been living in this house since 1987, after buying it from a builder. We have all the documents and the sale deed, too. On Thursday, I went out and during that time the sealing squad came to our place. Despite the fact that my husband was inside, they locked him in,” said Pushpa Singhal.

A call was made to the Kotla Mubarakpur police station, after which the seal was broken and Singhal was able to come out of his house.

Pushpa further alleged that while there were five flats in the entire building, only their house and the one in the basement were sealed by the MCD.

According to them, the MCD served them an eviction notice three months ago, as other occupants in the building had carried out illegal construction.

“We wrote to them saying we were ready to get it regularised it individually. But the other occupants were not ready for it. Why should we be penalised for that?” she added.

MCD, However, said it follow protocol while sealing the house.

“Before carrying out a sealing operation, MCD and police personnel ensure that the occupants of the building have vacated it. The same procedure is reported to have been followed in this incident. However, the deputy commissioner of the central zone has ordered an inquiry into the matter. Further action, if required, will be taken on the basis of the inquiry report,” said Deep Mathur, MCD’s director of press and information.