Noida, Dec 15 (IANS) Over two dozen people, including several policemen, were injured Tuesday as residents of Noida fought pitched battles with the police to protest an anti-encroachment drive to evacuate people who had illegally occupied government land.
Protests broke out after an enforcement squad of the Noida Development Authority around 10.30 a.m. razed some structures constructed on the land acquired by the authority in Sector 127, officials said. Some 15 people were arrested for the violence.

“The authority initiated a drive to evacuate the land in sector 127 situated in village Bakhtavarpur of Noida. At about 10.30 a.m., when bulldozers razed three structures constructed on the land, local residents opposed the work,” Noida Development Authority Deputy CEO Anil Raj Kumar said.

“When the villagers staged protests, Noida officials called the police for help. When the police attempted to remove the crowd from the spot, a confrontation took place and the villagers started pelting brickbats at the police team,” he added.

Said Anil Samania, inspector in charge of Sector-39 police station: “The police then called for more force. Seeing more police force arriving at the site, angry villagers then took up positions on rooftops and high places and pelted stones at them.”

“some villagers also attempted to damage public vehicles plying on the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway. About a dozen vehicles were damaged in the violence. Seeing the situation going out of control, the police fired in the air and used force to disperse the crowd. In this confrontation about two dozen people, including policemen and villagers, sustained injuries.”

He added: “Superintendent of Police (City) A.K. Tripathi fractured his leg. The injured were admitted to hospitals and most of them were discharged after being administered first aid.”

District Magistrate Deepak Agrawal said: “The land had been acquired in the past. All the formalities related to the acquisition process were completed and compensation was also dispensed to the land owners. But during the course of time, three to four structures were constructed by villagers on the acquired land.”

“Today when the authority razed the structures, they (villagers) obstructed the government officials in discharging their duties.”