August 1, 2002	Thursday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 21,1423

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ISLAMABAD, July 31: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration will resume development work on the site allocated for D-12 Sector.

The CDA chairman, Mir Laiq Shah, told Dawn on Wednesday that the development work was stopped by the villagers of Siri Saral and Pind Sangrial who were demanding due compensation for their land. This action of the villagers led to a clash on Monday which claimed the lives of two people, he said.

He said the authority had paid all dues to the villagers and no more compensation would be given to them. He said the development work would commence on Thursday and no one would be allowed to create any disturbance.

Earlier, the interior secretary on Tuesday ordered the CDA to conduct another operation within the next 24 hours, a source in the CDA said.

The source said the secretary was to send a team of interior ministry officials to supervise the operation on Wednesday, but, it was postponed for Thursday as SSP Islamabad Syed Kaleem Imam had to hold a meeting with representatives of the villagers on Wednesday.

The CDA’s member administration, Ghulam Dastagir, also confirmed that the operation would be conducted on the site for D-12 sector.

He said the villagers had damaged the authority’s construction machinery, besides, the official vehicles of the CDA and the ICT administration.

He said the machinery would be sent to the development site on Thursday.

When contacted, Director Enforcement, Chaudhry Mohammad Ali, who has been accused of opening fire on the villagers, termed this allegation baseless.

He said in the presence of senior officials of police and district administration, he could not take such an irresponsible step. However, he accused the villagers of beating women police and opening fire from seven different locations.

On the other hand, some villagers of Siri Saral and Pind Sangrial said they would not allow the CDA to conduct another operation.

They said they had submitted their cases with the National Accountability Bureau, but so far they had not be given any relief. They said the CDA was trying to grab their 800 kanals at the rate of only Rs70 per kanal, while the present market rate was Rs4 million.

PPI ADDS: A judicial inquiry will begin on Friday into the clash between the villagers and police on Monday.

District and Sessions Judge Sheikh Ahmad Farooq will hear the case. The court sought detailed report of the incident from the CDA and ICT police in this regard.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Lt-Gen Moinuddin Haider (retired) has rejected the preliminary report of the Islamabad police regarding D-12 sector incident.

In the preliminary report, the villagers have been accused of opening fire on the police. It said the attack on the police and CDA officials was pre-planned by the land grabbers.

However, the interior minister, presiding over an emergency meeting of senior officers of the Islamabad administration and the CDA, rejected the preliminary report. He termed the report unsatisfactory. He asked the authorities concerned to carry out further investigations into the incident.