Months after live-in partner’s murder, Uttarakhand taxi driver’s house demolished

Police in Gurgaon, where Pooja is from, arrested Ahmad last week.

Pooja had met Ahmad, a taxi driver, for the first time in 2022. She had hailed his taxi from Udham Singh Nagar to travel to Gurgaon. Soon after, the two got into a relationship. Last November, Pooja’s sister filed a complaint at the Sector 5 police station in Gurgaon, reporting her missing.

Ahmad’s house was demolished on Monday, with officials saying it was an illegal encroachment. The action came under the direction of Udham Singh Nagar’s District Magistrate and SSP.

In a statement to the media, DM Nitin Bhadoria said a notice had been sent earlier regarding the illegal encroachment after they received a complaint from a local resident that an “outsider” encroached upon their land. “They demolished their house, and the administration and police were there to oversee the matter,” he said.

A statement from the police said, “A house illegally constructed by Ali Ahmad on ST land was demolished by the administration and police. Ali Ahmad’s son, Mustaq Ahmad, had brutally murdered a woman. The Gurugram police is currently investigating the murder. The administration and police will continue to identify encroachments on government land and take action as per rules.”

The statement said a complaint was received regarding illegal occupation and encroachment on ST category land by “land mafias”. “Upon investigation, it was found that a house had been constructed by Ali Ahmad on land belonging to Mathura Singh, son of Narayan Singh, resident of village Tharu Gaurikheda, Sitarganj. Mathura Singh belongs to the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category. After the death of his father, the said land was registered in Mathura Singh’s name. The district administration had earlier issued a notice regarding this matter. The illegal structure was demolished today,” it said.

On May 2, the Uttarakhand High Court had pulled up the municipal council for serving a demolition notice to the accused in a POCSO case, calling it akin to contempt of a Supreme Court order. The Division Bench of Chief Justice G Narender and Justice Ravindra Maithani said, “We are issuing contempt and taking it up seriously. You (the municipal council) cannot violate a Supreme Court order; it was not passed aeons ago. Whoever it is, whatever it is, the Supreme Court has been very clear: if you want to demolish a house, what is the procedure?”

The council had said that they would withdraw the notice.

The Supreme Court had on November 13 last year laid down guidelines regarding demolition of people’s homes and private property, and said it could not be done “only on the ground that they are accused of a crime”.