Ghaziabad, Sep 5 (IANS) About two dozen people including three policemen were injured and many vehicles set ablaze and damaged here Saturday when people protesting the government’s move to evict them from an unauthorised colony turned violent, officials said.
Police used teargas and fired in the air to disperse the mob after a large number of people gathered and blocked the Ghaziabad-Greater Noida Expressway on National Highway (NH) 24, officials said.

Earlier, on the instructions of the cabinet secretary, the Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad administration launched a drive to raze illegal constructions along the Hindon river.

According to officials, no construction is allowed within 400 metres of the main stream of the river but land grabbers had sold plots to people who had built houses without any approval from the authorities.

These illegal structures had created snags in the construction of the expressway, so the joint team of irrigation department and district administration had launched the demolition drive, officials said.

“When police attempted to carry out the drive, the mob started pelting stones at them,” a police officer said.

“In the violent protest police sub-inspector Samarjit Singh, inspector Yogesh Pathak and circle officer R.K. Gautam sustained injuries. When the policemen realised that their officers were under threat, the police fired in the air to disperse the mob,” the police officer said.

“The police could succeed in clearing the highway after about three hours. The police also had to remove the damaged vehicles from the highway which resulted in a traffic jam. Normal movement could be restored only by the evening,” the police officer added.