The Mandi Bahauddin Press Club was demolished in the early hours of Sunday morning, “without any prior notice or warning from the district administration”, the press club president said.

Mandi Bahauddin Press Club President, Zaheer Khan, said that the club received no demolition notice from the district administration, and the demolition itself took place at 4am on Sunday morning.

“We received no notice, and we were all asleep when this happened,” he told Dawn.com over the phone. “We invested a lot of money into this building and our records are all destroyed.

“Why did they demolish the building at night?” Khan asked.

Video footage recorded by a Dawn.com correspondent at the scene on Sunday showed the gutted interior and exterior of the building, as well as furniture and other items belonging to the club strewn on the ground outside.

Khan added that the district administration offered the press club a new location and that he spoke with the assistant deputy commissioner about the matter last night.

“We spoke over the phone and he told me ‘not to worry, we will make all the arrangements [for a new location]’,” Khan explained, adding that demolishing the existing building was not discussed.

He added that the press club was set up in two shops on land rented from the government. “The shops around us were demolished and the owners were given no notice either,” Khan said.

When asked about potential legal action, Khan said, “For the time being, the club is not pursuing any. However, if the district administration does not give us a new location, we will stage protests and involve other press clubs.

“This is a drone strike on journalism,” he lamented. “This building stood for over 30 years.”

Meanwhile, Mandi Bahauddin Electronic Media President Hafiz Zahid Hameed called the incident “very concerning”, reiterating Khan’s claim that the press club received no prior notice of the demolition.

“We received no notice at all,” he told Dawn.com over the phone. When asked about the shops mentioned by Khan, Hameed said that they had matters with the district administration which were “in court”.

Meanwhile, Mandi Bahauddin Deputy Commissioner Faisal Saleem told Dawn.com that the shops, which were rented from the government, were demolished as part of an anti-encroachment drive.

“All of the shops were removed in an anti-encroachment operation last night to widen the road and clear congestion and to build a pedestrian footpath,” the DC said, adding that 24 shops were situated in the area.

DC Saleem disputed that the press club membership had previously agreed to “replace the club”.

“We met with the journalists and community members yesterday and they agreed to move to a new location,” he said. “We told them that we would demolish the building and that we would provide them with a new location tomorrow.

“This was not a press club. The journalists had set up their press club in two of the 24 shops which were situated on government land,” Saleem added. “Litigation between the shop owners and the administration was ongoing for some time as they had not paid rent.”