Slumdwellers set house on fire to evade demolition drive

Slumdwellers on Tibba Road turned an unruly lot on Tuesday when a demolition team,led by assistant town planner Kamaljeet Kaur,went to remove their hutments which had come up on two acres of civic body land.

After removing their goods from the houses,two residents allegedly set a straw hut on fire,which soon engulfed the entire area. The team had to make a quick escape along with the machinery. The fire brigade was called in which was dousing the flames till the time of filing of this report. The incident occurred around 12.30 pm.

The police have arrested and registered an FIR against Liyakat Ali and Abdullah on the complaint of Baljit Singh,inspector of the Building Branch.

ATP Kamaljeet Kaur said,“Though most of the slumdwellers were resisting the drive,the two accused were creating a lot of nuisance. It was a narrow escape for us and the fire brigade reached in time.” No loss of life or property has been reported till now.