Khairnar in action replay

But as soon as Khairnar and the police vans moved out, the hawkers were back on the pavements outside the station. At Fashion Street, though, the Demolition Man had succeeded in sending shivers through the vendors. “Will he be able to demolish our licensed stalls too,” inquired one of them.

Khairnar was attacked by a hawker on Saturday morning when his squad demolished an illegal stall on Ranade Road at Dadar (West). However, dismissing the incident as an occupational hazard, Khairnar told Newsline: “As I was entering the car, he (the stall owner) tried to assault me. I came out to speak to him but he pressed my neck. A stone was flung towards me which hit my leg.”

He says he was vulnerable to the attack as he had taken along a small squad which he has created to tackle minor complaints. In the evening, he was faced with the fury of a 200-strong mob of hawkers at CST station. It was a joint action with the Central Railway. As a huge group moved towards him with lathis, one of them was flung in his direction, narrowly missing his head.

“The police lathi-charged the crowd and I could see a woman was profusely bleeding. Our commandos too joined in and they were able to drive away the mob. Even those sleeping near the station were not spared,” says Khairnar, adding that they were eventually able to remove all the stalls.

The police have posted two constables from Dadar outside his residence in view of the death-threats he has been receiving over the phone. Asked about the threats, he replies, “I am not afraid of these threats. I have never taken them seriously. In fact, they are best ignored. The threat I face of being attacked on site is much more than those over the phone. I shall continue the demolitions with the support of the public.”

Meanwhile the Federation of Retail Traders’ Association in a press statement has congratulated Khairnar, saying it is a pleasure to note that “our beloved `Demolition Man’ is back on duty and in right ernest has started from where he has left six years back removing unauthorised hawkers from footpaths of Mumbai.”