September 26, 2008	Friday	Ramazan 25, 1429

HYDERABAD, Sept 25: A heavy police contingent demolished around 200 huts and arrested dozens of people after raiding Sabz Ali Korai village in the early hours on Thursday.

The villagers had put the figure of arrested people at over 100 while police claimed to have taken into custody only 42, including seven women.

Police accompanied by the Revenue Department District Officer Sajjad Haider, Deputy District Raid Officer Rashid Mehmood Siddiqui and Mukhtiarkar Ahktar Shaikh conducted the raid on the village and its adjoining areas at Sehri time and bulldozed over 200 katch houses among which there were also few concrete structures.

Villagers such as Hameed, Aijaz and Shakeel said that they had been living here for last many years but their abodes were razed to the ground in an instance on the instigation of land mafia and in league with police.

They alleged the police of not only resorting to firing but even torturing women and children in violation of chadar and chardiwari.

They deplored the action of police and revenue officers for desecrating the sanctity of the holy month of Ramazan by making them homeless while Eidul Fitr was around the corner.

The SPO Latifabad, Maroofwala told Dawn that the demolition of hutments was in fact carried out by the Revenue Department which had requested police assistance to maintain law and order. He denied that police had resorted to firing but said that on the contrary police was attacked and fired upon by the villagers.

He said 42 villagers had been arrested, including seven women for attacking police and resorting to firing.

Officials of the Revenue Department said that the villagers had been ejected for encroaching upon seven acres of the government land on survey No.89, 84, 94 and 95.

Revenue officers said that police arrested the villagers for attacking them and disregarded the version that the action was taken at the instance of some imaginary builders for the land belonged to the government.