The Aam Aadmi Party Tuesday claimed its leader Atishi was detained by police when she went to meet the residents of Bhoomiheen Camp in Kalkaji where a demolition is to be carried out. Police, however, denied any detention.
Eviction notices by the Delhi Development Authority have been pasted at houses in the jhuggi-jhopri camp, warning "encroachers" to leave the spot within three days, or face action.
The camp, where most residents are migrant workers, has seen demolition drives thrice in the past year -- in May and June this year and July 2023.
Despite claims of detention, a police officer said she along with others were "removed" under Section 65 of the Delhi Police Act.
Section 65 of the Delhi Police Act, 1978 states that all persons must comply with reasonable directions given by a police officer in the discharge of their duties under the Act. If someone resists, refuses, or fails to comply, the police officer can remove the person, produce them before a Metropolitan Magistrate, or release them in trivial cases, it says.
Atishi, a former Delhi chief minister, had earlier in a post on X in Hindi, said, "Tomorrow, the BJP is going to run bulldozers over the Bhoomiheen Camp. Today, the slum residents there were planning to protest, so the BJP government deployed thousands of police and CRPF personnel.
"Rekha Gupta ji: You had said that no slums would be demolished, right? Then why is such a massive police and CRPF force deployed?" Gupta had on Sunday said the authorities cannot go against demolition orders issued by the courts and stressed that the displaced residents have been provided accommodation.
The remarks came amid criticism from the opposition AAP over the razing of the Madrasi Camp slum cluster near Barapullah in south Delhi, and similar demolition drives in other parts of the city.