Nirmal Gorana, general secretary of Bandhua Mukthi Morcha, was on Tuesday arrested by the Faridabad Police on charges of instigating the mob at a public meeting in Khori Basti, flouting the prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC, and not adhering to COVID-appropriate behaviour.
The Supreme Court had on June 7 ordered demolition of the structures on 170-acre Khori Basti on the forest land within six weeks. Social activists and politicians have been demanding that Khori Basti residents be rehabilitated before carrying out of the demolition drive and compensated.
The police, in a press statement, claimed that around 150 people were holding a meeting at Khori Basti, making provocative speeches and were hatching a conspiracy to attack police team during the demolition drive. They also did not not adhere to COVID-19 guidelines. A case was registered against around 150 people and the prime accused Gorana was arrested.
Voices of social groups
Various social groups expressing solidarity with the residents, in a press statement, said Mr. Gorana had gone to Khori Basti to examine the situation and noticed that water and electricity supply to the colony had been cut off for the last two days, despite the date of demolition being extended by the government. He was arrested from his car on his way back.
“The police have been terrorising the residents and ignoring official notices which grant the villagers of Khori another three days before eviction....The police are patrolling every street and every intersection in Khori village. They are beating people as soon as they exit their houses. Many people have begun shifting their household items and the police are troubling and attacking them too. They have been pelting stones, trampling and attacking protesters and all protests have currently stopped. The villagers are extremely distressed and scared and feel as though they have been sentenced to death,” said a joint statement by Basti Suraksha Manch, Working Peoples’ Charter, Bandhua Mukti Morcha and National Alliance of People’s Movements.
Faridabad Police spokespersons Sube Singh denied the allegations made by the solidarity groups saying that the police wanted the people to vacate the land in adherence to the Supreme Court orders and are not preventing them from stepping out of their homes.
