ISLAMABAD, Aug 8: The Capital Development Authority chairman was intimated about the tense situation at the site of sector D-12 before demolishing the village there on July 29, a CDA official told the inquiry officer on Thursday.

Th CDA deputy commissioner, Malik Zafar Iqbal, recorded his statement before the inquiry officer, Sheikh Ahmed Farooq, who is probing the Sri Saral tragedy in which three persons died in a clash with police.

The inquiry officer asked the DC since some 25 villagers had not been compensated and their cases were being heard by the CDA Commissioner, who ordered for the operation?

The DC replied that when he saw the situation getting tense at the site he contacted the chairman who ordered him “do some effort to avert the resistance”.

He claimed that he was not the part of the decision taken “at the higher level” and that he had been trying to resolve the problem since a long.

He added that when he along with the enforcement and police personnel reached the spot on July 29 the villagers started assembling around them.

They kept waiting for several hours and when the additional deputy commissioner, Jodat Ayaz, and SP Taimur Ali Khan, reached there, they ordered to start the operation, he said. “As soon as the bulldozers were ignited, the villagers started pelting stones and a group, armed with clubs and iron bars, attacked the drivers of the bulldozers and personnel of the enforcement department.”

He said several were wounded while two police personnel were abducted by the villagers as a result of which they called reinforcement of the police to control the situation.

He said as soon as more police personnel reached there, the villagers started firing on them from three sides as a result of which several police personnel were wounded.

The police in response opened fire and controlled the situation and later got released the personnel while the injured were sent to the hospital.

The director (enforcement), Chaudhry Muhammad Ali, who was being accused of killing one of the villagers, said the development work was already in progress when the incident took place.

He contended that Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider inaugurated the development work in the sector D-12 on July 17 and the affected villagers were present on this occasion; the next day development work was started which continued for one week when he was told by the director (lands) Ms Shaista Suhail on July 24 that the villagers had interrupted the work.

He asked the deputy director (enforcement), Inamur Rahim, to visit the site and try to calm down the villagers but he was not heard by the villagers.

He said he himself visited the area next day to pacify the sentiments of the villagers but they were too furious and were not prepared to listen to him.

The inquiry officer would cross-examine Chaudhary Muhammad Ali on Friday.

The deputy commissioner, during the cross-examination, told the inquiry officer that a group of villagers, led by Allah Ditta and Hayder Shah, came to see him at his home and demanded “double compensation”. He asked them to file an application with the CDA chairman.

He contended that the CDA had acquired the area several years ago but could not start the development work due to lack of resources and manpower.