Demolition work at the Dahlia Bank bungalow at landour in Mussoorie started on Tuesday. The mansion located in picturesque Mussoorie hills is owned by hotelier Sanjay Narang, who is a close friend of former cricketer and Rajya Sabha MP Sachin Tendulkar. Following the order of the Supreme Court (SC) the Cantonment board started the process of demolition of the unauthorised construction of the mansion on Tuesday. The demolition team of the cantonment board arrived at 10 am on the spot and started the operation. Elaborate security arrangements were taken to prevent any untoward incident on the occasion.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the landour Cantonment board, Zakir Hussain said as per the orders of SC the demolition of unauthorised portion of the mansion started on Tuesday and the exercise would be completed in five days.
The Dahlia Bank is a mansion located on a 28,000 square feet property of the businessman Sanjay Narang. This mansion is in close proximity of the Institute of Technology and Management (ITM) which is under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The cantonment board claims that the property is within 50 metres range of the defence establishment which makes it illegal.
Earlier, a bench of Uttarakhand High Court (HC) directed the authorities to demolish the unauthorised construction of the building. Sanjay Narang appealed against the order in the SC which dismissed it paving the way for the demolition of the mansion which has been the focus of a controversy for last six years. Sachin Tendulkar and his family regularly used to often visit the mansion fueling speculation among the public about the former cricketer being the actual owner of the property.