Several injured in stone pelting by locals as Housing Board takes possession of land

Clash taking place between protesting locals and Housing Board team accompanied by cops at Gran village in Reasi on Saturday. —Excelsior/Mengi
Clash taking place between protesting locals and Housing Board team accompanied by cops at Gran village in Reasi on Saturday. —Excelsior/Mengi

3 women among 11 villagers arrested

Excelsior Correspondent

REASI, Nov 13: Three cops among five officials were injured and a few vehicles were damaged in stone pelting by a mob of locals when a team of J&K Housing Board, assisted by the District Administration, was taking over possession of land at village Gran, under the jurisdiction of Reasi Police Station, here today.

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To control the situation, Police resorted to baton charge in which some civilians sustained injuries. Police arrested 11 villagers, including three women and registered an FIR in this connection. Official vehicle of MD J&K Housing Board and a private JCB were damaged in the stone pelting.
The Housing Board team along with Revenue officials and Police had gone there to take possession of land measuring 116 Kanals and 03 Marlas, situated in Village Gran, Reasi, which was officially claimed to be allotted by the Government and taken over by the Housing Board after proper demarcation on 08.11.1995.
According to an official spokesperson, following the allotment by Government , works on the land were taken up by the J&K Housing Board for development of a housing colony and meanwhile, the Industries & Commerce Department occupied 56 Kanals 08 Marlas of the said land leaving behind only 59 kanals and 07 Marlas with the Board. In 2010-11, the Board allotted plots in this Housing Colony and subsequently offer letters were issued for 39 plots in favour of applicants who deposited full payment of plots (measuring 30X60 sft). However, till date possession could not be handed over to them for different reasons, especially because of the litigation initiated by one Karnail Singh and others.
The trouble erupted this afternoon when J&K Housing Board was handing over possession of the plots to the allottees and several locals reached the spot claiming that the said land was ShamilatDeh and owned by the village people.
As the Housing Board and Revenue officials allegedly refused to listen to the protesting villagers, the later turned violent and a few among them resorted to stone pelting in which three cops and two officials sustained injuries.
To control the situation, Police used force and baton charged the mob. In the Police action, some villagers sustained injuries while 11 of them, including three women were taken into custody.
Later Police registered FIR number 222 against the arrested persons under section 307, 353, 336, 427, 447, 147, 149 of IPC. The arrested persons were identified as Kewal Singh Barotra, son of Omkar Singh Barotra, Karan Singh Barotra, son of Ram Singh Barotra, Deepak Singh Barotra son of Bachiter Singh Barotra, Sidhant Singh Barotra son of Suram Singh Barotra, Vakeel Singh Barotra son of Ram Singh Barotra, Raj Singh Barotra son of Krishan Singh Barotra, Raghubir Singh Barotra son of Ram Singh Barotra, Ashok Singh Barotra son of Ram Singh Barotra, Vimla Devi wife of Karan Singh Barotra, Darshana Devi wife of Kishor Singh Barotra and Reeta Barotra wife of Raghubir Singh Balotra. All of them are residents of Gran Morh, Reasi.