Eviction drive at Kathputli killed a boy: Residents
NEWDELHI: A day after residents of Kathputli Colony in west Delhi said they were beaten up by police during a demolition drive to evict them from their homes, a toddler died—allegedly due to use of tear gas by the cops.
The police refuted the claims. The relatives of one-and-half year old Aryan on Tuesday alleged that he died because of the tear gas shells used by the police to disperse the crowd protesting against the demolition drive at the colony of street performers on Monday afternoon.
Mandeep Singh Randhawa, deputy commissioner of police (central), however, said the boy’s home was located at a distance from the place where a tear gas shell was used to disperse the crowd.
“The tear gas shell was used around 2 pm. The child was admitted to a private hospital in the night. I have been told that the child had some medical problems for the last one month. The death could be because of that. We are checking the hospital’s records to know the exact cause of death,” said Randhawa.
Aryan’s aunt Seema, 30, told Hindustan Times that the child had gone to Kathputli Colony a month ago with his parents to visit his maternal relatives.
“Aryan’s house was demolished during the drive on Monday. His family, including him, was in the open all day, when police began using tear gas shells. Aryan couldn’t breathe. His eyes became red and sore. We took him to Kalawati Hospital, where he died on Tuesday around 4.30pm,” said Seema.
Aryan’s father, Jitu Bhatt, plays dhol for a living. His mother, Pooja, is a homemaker. He has a three-year-old sister.
On Monday, officials of Delhi Development Authority had conducted a demolition drive to evict those residents who had refused to move out. Kathputli Colony, spreading across 5.2 hectares, will be razed to construct multistorey buildings by a private builder, as part of Delhi Master Plan 2021 of DDA. During the last three years, 1,355 families have shifted to a transit accommodation at Anand Parbat. However, some families stayed put, refusing to move out.
DDA officials had also denied allegations of use of force.