FIR Lodged Against AAP MLA for 'Obstructing' Shaheen Bagh Demolition Drive

The FIR was lodged against AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan on the complaint of the SDMC.

A demolition drive scheduled at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh was not conducted after protests broke out in the area.

(Photo: PTI) 

The Delhi Police on Monday, 9 May, registered an FIR against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Amanatullah Khan for "obstructing government work" amid an attempt to bulldoze alleged illegal structures in Shaheen Bagh by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), which was later deferred.

"SDMC has submitted a complaint to the cops about how AAP leader Amanatullah Khan and his supporters interfered in government duty today at Shaheen Bagh," the police said in a statement, adding that appropriate legal action would be taken on the basis of the complaint.

An FIR was lodged against Khan under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 353 (assaulting public servant), and 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), the police said.

What Had Happened?

A demolition drive scheduled for Monday at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh was not conducted after protests in the area. Shaheen Bagh was the epicentre of anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) protests in 2019-20.

AAP MLA from Okhla, Amanatullah Khan, also joined the protests at Shaheen Bagh. "People have already removed encroachments on my request. 'Wazu khana' and toilets outside a mosque here were removed in presence of police, earlier. When there are no encroachments, why have they come here? Just to do politics?" Khan was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Locals and Congress workers sat on the road and stood in the way of the bulldozers brought for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led South Delhi Municipal Corporation's (SDMC) drive against illegal construction.

Some local traders and others at the site had requested authorities to not use bulldozers, and had started removing the encroachments themselves.

A bulldozer that had arrived at Shaheen Bagh before noon, left around 1:30 pm, as protests continued. No demolitions were carried out.

This comes nearly three weeks after a demolition drive was carried out in Delhi's Jahangirpuri on the morning of 20 April, till the Supreme Court ordered a stay.