19 May 2004	Wednesday	28 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

LAHORE, May 18: Accompanied by police, officials of the Data Ganj Bakh Town administration raided the Lahore Gymkhana on Tuesday to demolish an "unapproved" structure but left the place sometime later without taking any action.

The raid was reportedly conducted in the morning. However, bulldozers and dumpers remained outside. During the officials' short stay at Gymkhana, construction work was suspended but no Gymkhana official approached them for negotiation, a construction supervisor told Dawn.

However, he said, the person leading the operation as well as the police left Gymkhana after receiving a phone call from the governor. According to the town administration, Gymkhana did not get map of the building approved and also did not pay the building plan fee.

When contacted, Mian Amer Mahmood said the operation was suspended following Gymkhana's assurance that it would pay Rs2.5 million as the building plan fee. A Gymkhana official, however, claimed that the plan was submitted to the Lahore Development Authority for approval a few years ago.

He alleged that a senior official of the City District Government had tried to create a trouble for Gymkhana after being denied membership.