A restaurant, a tiles shop: Amid Nuh demolitions, one claim — no notice sent

Nuh SP Narendra Bijarniya said that action is being taken against “illegal constructions and individuals involved in anti-social activities”. “On Sunday, a total of 57.5 acres of land with unauthorised constructions was cleared from 37 locations in the district. So far, 162 permanent and 591 temporary structures have been demolished,” he said in a statement.

Speaking to The Indian Express, he said, “Notices were served properly to vacate the buildings. And the data of the land concerned was also shared with them. We have followed the due course of the law.”

Jamshed (34), whose Sahara restaurant, which occupied the ground floor of a four-storey structure, was demolished on Sunday, said that police questioning had preceded the demolition.

He said police had called him and questioned him about the July 31 violence two days ago. His restaurant is situated on the road where violence broke out and stone pelting began. He said police took the CCTV footage from his restaurant for probe, and on Saturday, they started the demolition, adding that on Sunday, they came with bulldozers and brought the building down.

“I was not given a notice or informed that this would happen. The SDM Nuh office called me yesterday, but didn’t inform me that they were tearing it down,” he said. Jamshed said he has been running the restaurant for nine years, adding that his family was also living on one of the floors of the building and left only when the curfew was imposed.

Police spokesperson had said that Sahara restaurant was on encroached land and there were links with violence.

The building housed a restaurant, a small lodge, and office spaces since 2014 and is owned by Akil Hussain. Akil said he and his tenants have never indulged in any rioting.

“I was not even in the area when the violence broke out. I had multiple offices and shops in the building and nobody has ever raised an issue. How is my building unauthorised now? I never received a notice, not on the phone or physically. If I had known, I would have asked everyone to leave beforehand… I have papers and clearances but nobody listened to me. I can’t even estimate my losses at this point,” he added.

At 3.30 pm on Sunday, Liaqat Ali received a call from an unknown person saying that his shop was being demolished. Ali who lives in Khedi village around 15 km away from his tiles shop near Shaheedi Park in Nuh came rushing to find the walls torn down. He claimed that his brother who was in Bangladesh, owned the land and he had been running the shop for two and a half years. “My phone number is right on top of the board carrying the shop name. No notice was sent to me and when I came and asked what was happening, they didn’t give me an answer. Had they informed me, why would I have waited till bulldozers came to clear my tiles and products out?” he said.

DC Dhirendra Khadgata said that the structures demolished were encroachments and owners were served notices many times earlier. He added that it was just coincidental that the action is taken at a time when there are suspicions regarding their involvement in the violence.

“The aggrieved parties were sent notices earlier and if they had any issues, they should have approached the administration in those instances with their evidence and claims over land,” he said.

The Nuh SDM, Ashwani Kumar, also did not provide copies of any notice.

Around 2 km away from Sunday’s site, rubble lined the road in front of Shaheed Hassan Mewati Government Hospital in Nalhar following the demolition of around 2.6 acres of land consisting of 45 structures on Saturday.
While most owners had left the area picking up whatever they could, a couple of shop owners were still clearing things from what were once medical supplies shops. “I suffered a loss of Rs 50 lakh. We had a drugs licence and were renting this shop. Yesterday, officers and police came with bulldozers and started razing all of the shops, including six where medicines were sold. They didn’t say anything or give any notice to any of us,” said Yunus (36).
Mohammad Sahud (56), whose family owned the property, said they were not illegal encroachments. He showed an order from the court of an additional civil judge from October 2022, which stated that “it would be inappropriate to disturb the settled possession of the plaintiff, Mohd Suhel (Sahud’s brother), over the suit land… It is also to be ensured that the plaintiff shall not make any further encroachment on the government land, hence, it is directed status quo should be maintained…”

When asked about the order, SDM Kumar said he was not aware of it.

Harkesh Sharma (25), who runs two pizza restaurants named Harry Jerry Pizza, was left disappointed when a call came from the SDM office early on Sunday. He told The Indian Express, “They said my restaurant is on the list of the places that would be razed during the day. I got scared and rushed here. I wish they had given me a notice…I lost more than Rs 12 lakh. I tried explaining to officers and talking to police but to no avail,” Harkesh said he rented the place two months back from a man named Sajid Ali.