An anti-encroachment drive faced violence in Roorkee on Thursday when the alleged encroachers started pelting stones on a team comprising police, administration and civic body officials in the fish market. Police fired in the air and charged baton to disperse the mob. Things started after the alleged encroachers scuffled with some officials, including one assistant municipal commissioner. However, police immediately took control of the situation and ensured that the drive continued till the encroachments were removed.
According to the municipal corporation officials, they had acted after they received complaint of encroachment involving a plot near the fish market where a haat bazaar (weekly market) is held every Thursday. It is reported that the operators of this weekly market used to charge a fee ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 400 from the temporary traders to allow them to run their business on the plot. “Since a weekly market is held at the behest of the municipal corporation we launched the drive to evict the encroachers from the place along with the police and revenue department officers. As our team moved to the adjoining fish market we found the roadsides being unlawfully occupied by some traders, mostly the meat sellers. The rowdy elements among them abused us and resorted to stone pelting and the like,” said assistant municipal commissioner Chandra Kant Bhatt who was also manhandled by the unidentified attackers.
Police said that the situation might have turned ugly had not police resorted to fire in the air. “There were around one dozen anti-social elements in the crowd who pelted the police and the civic body officers with stones. The situation going out of control, a sub-inspector of police fired three rounds in the air to disperse the mob,” said a shopkeeper, requesting anonymity.