MUZAFFARABAD: A group of encroachers was ejected, at last, from a historic tunnel and a small bridge along the Muzaffarabad-Rawalpindi road near here on Monday.

Ambore tunnel and the bridge before it, located almost five kilometers in the outskirts of Muzaffarabad, were freed from land grabbers, during an early morning action by three police platoons. The operation was led by Assistant Commissioner (AC) Asim Khalid Awan, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mohammad Naseer and two station house officers.

The land grabbers, led by a political activist of opposition party Muslim Conference, put up a strong resistance. However, the police uprooted their designs and demolished three shelters and a block factory, which had occupied the historic site, AC Awan told Dawn.

The tunnel, built during the Dogra rule in Jammu and Kashmir that ended in 1947, was used by commuters of Muzaffarabad and Rawalpindi traveling through Kohala, until an alternate route was built by the AJK Highway Department about a decade ago to meet the needs of the growing traffic.

After the October 2005 earthquake, the mafia grabbed the abandoned tunnel and the bridge by setting up a block factory on it, marring the beauty of what could be a heritage site.

Interestingly, even though almost all state functionaries could witness the illegal occupation while traveling past it, there had not been any forceful action on their part to reclaim the possession.

According to sources, previously half-hearted attempts were made to vacate the spot. However, on Monday the administration carried out the eviction with organised planning and full force, AC Awan said.

Soon after the eviction, the alleged mafia members and their supporters blocked the main highway at some points between Ambore and Dalai, and pelted stones at the police personnel deployed to maintain law and order.

Chanting anti-government slogans, they alleged that they had been rendered jobless by the Peoples Party government.

Mr Awan said two policemen were injured in the violence at the highway and a case had been registered against the mischief makers.

He further told that many more spots, along the Muzaffarabad-Rawalpindi road, had also been occupied by the mafias in a similar fashion and the administration is determined to evict them in the coming days.

Published in Dawn, July 1st , 2014