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A brick kiln owner has been arrested for allegedly demolishing the house of his neighbour by using a JCB machine at Dumari village in Gorakhpur, police said on Monday. The complainant, Sachidanand Mishra, a retired government employee, has alleged that the accused, Atal Singh (43) wanted to grab his ancestral property.
Mishra, 75, a former revenue department official, kept his ancestral home locked after he shifted to his new house in Hatwa village. A few years ago, Mishra built four shops on the front portion of the house and rented three of these, he told the police.
According to the complaint, on June 23 night, Atal Singh along with around 20 unidentified aides, reached Mishra’s ancestral home and demolished it using a JCB machine. He was informed about the issue by one of the shopkeepers, Mantu Singh, on June 24 morning.
“We reached the spot and found that the entire house, along with the shop, was demolished. Local residents told us that a JCB machine was used for this. Atal was frequently putting pressure on us to give him our ancestral property and had threatened us several times,” alleged Mishra.
On June 24, Sachidanand Mishra filed a police complaint against Atal Singh and 20 unidentified persons under IPC sections 147 (rioting), 427 (Mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees) and 506 (criminal intimidation) at the Gagaha police station.
During investigation, the police invoked 458 (Lurking house-trespass or house-breaking by night after preparation for hurt, assault, or wrongful restraint) and Criminal Law Amendment Act.
Station House Officer, Gagaha police station, Suraj Singh said that on June 24, after coming to know about the matter, he immediately informed the revenue department and a Nayab Tehslidar visited the site.
“Before June 24, no one informed us about the dispute. We have arrested Atal Singh, who was produced before a court on Monday. Efforts are being made to identify and arrest his associates,” said the SHO.
Mishra’s son, Ashish, claimed that Atal Singh was eying their ancestral property since they shifted to a neighbouring village a few years ago. “Atal Singh falsely claimed that there is a dispute between us over the exit path. The entry into Atal’s house is separate.” He added, “Atal’s farm land is located behind my ancestral house and he was putting pressure on us to give him a path so that he could get direct access to his farming land,” said Ashish, who claims tht he had be running a school from his ancestral house few years ago before constructing four shops.
He added that they also filed a complaint with Gorakhpur District Magistrate Krishna Karunesh against the local sub-divisional magistrate and nayab tehsildar for allegedly helping Atal Singh.
When contacted, the DM said the complainant constructed a school on a government plot next to his house. The neighbour flagged the “illegal” construction and approached the district administration. The SDM and nayab tehslidar visited the spot for verification to resolve the issue recently, the DM said.
The DM also said that on the basis of a complaint filed by Mishra, an inquiry has been set up to probe the allegation.
“The accused (Atal Singh) who had acted without permission from any authorities, was sent to jail by a court,” said the DM.
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