Srinagar, Jan 30: The demolition squad of Srinagar Development Authority led by two senior officials, had a tough time Saturday when they were gheraoed and attacked by some miscreants, while trying to raze an “illegal” structure near Nowgam bypass on the City outskirts.
 The miscreants manhandled at-least six SDA officials including Deputy Director Enforcement, Abdul Aziz Khawaja and the Assistant Town Planner, Tariq Shamas who were at the spot to monitor the demolition drive.
 The SDA has accused the police of failing to provide protection during the drive.
 The trouble erupted at around 3 PM when the SDA demolition squad reached the site of the illegal construction.
 “Some locals assembled at the site and gheraoed our team,” the SDA Vice-Chairman Kifayat Hussain Rizvi said.
 He confirmed that the SDA had sought police protection for today’s demolition drive, but the cops didn’t turn up on-time resulting in trouble.
 “By the time police reached the spot, all the officials of the SDA had rushed to the site to rescue their colleagues,” he added.
 Rizvi said FIR has been lodged against the accused who manhandled the staff and threatened to physically harm them.
 Despite repeated attempts, the Police Station Nowgam, didn’t respond to the phone calls.
 According to SDA sources, the matter was immediately brought into the notice of the Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, incharge Housing and Urban Development Department, who assured action against the culprits and full support to the SDA authorities.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 30 Jan 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 30 Jan 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 31 Jan 2010 00:00:00 IST