The contractors in their complaint said the demolition squad of the Army not only demolished their sheds but also damaged their construction material worth lakhs of rupees. The Army had demolished the illegal structures of the contractors and accommodation of their labourers.

The contractors demanded that a case should be registered against the Army officers and jawans who had assaulted them with butts of guns while they were working on different sites. They further alleged that the Army had not given them any prior notice to vacate the land. They claimed that they had been using the space for the several years with the permission of the authorities concerned.

The contractors also met the local MP and Union Minister Kumari Selja to discuss the issue. The contractors stopped construction work to register their protest against the decision. They also threatened to discontinue construction work in the Cantonment area.

However, the Army officials also made a written complaint with the police saying that the contractors misbehaved with the officers who had reached the spot to remove encroachments. They claimed that contractors also created hurdles in performing the government duty. They further added that the contractors had unauthorised possession of the Army land and were misusing it for storing construction material. Some of the contractors had also built hutments for accommodating their labourers. They said that Commander Works had issued notices to contractors for vacating the land but they had ignored it.

Meanwhile in Panchkula, the sketches of three unidentified men who were involved in the robbery of Rs 5.16 lakh late last evening are being made by the police. The men robbed the cashier and driver of Berkeley Automobile, Industrial area, of Rs 5.16 lakh at gunpoint on Friday. The two employees of the automobile company were on their way to a bank to deposit the cash.