Jalandhar admin failed to show documents justifying Latifpura demolition: NCSC chief Sampla

Terming the incident an ‘atrocity’ by the state government and the district administration, Sampla summoned Punjab chief secretary, secretary local bodies, and Jalandhar’s deputy commissioner (DC), police commissioner, commissioner of the cicipal corporation (MC) and Improvement Trust executive officer (EO), to appear at NCSC headquarters in New Delhi on January 10 next month.

Sampla said, “The SC families, who had been living in those houses for the past 70 years, showed water and electricity bills, along with voter cards, ration cards, Aadhaar cards and driving licences issued on the addresses of their demolished houses. However, when Jalandhar’s DC, MC commissioner and Improvement Trust’s EO were asked for the relevant documents which paved the way for the demolition drive, they failed to produce or submit them.”

In the meeting at Circuit House, Sampla said that he was disturbed to see how the DC and EO were just passing the buck when he asked them to show the list of SC victim families. Sampla also directed the administration to immediately provide mobile toilets and to ensure 24-hour availability of a health team at the demolition site.