About three acres of government land reportedly worth over Rs 10 crore was recovered after the demolition.According to Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Seelampur, Kuldeep Singh Gangar, the operation was peaceful. ``The police handled the job very professionally, the best that I have seen so far. They completed the job without even lifting a finger,'' he added.

Most of the illegal occupants of the land -- belonging to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) -- willingly vacated their buildings following a notice issued three weeks ago. Gangar said that the majority of the occupants were tenants. Soon after the eviction notice was served, they had requested the authorities for a couple of weeks to shift elsewhere.

Local MLA Vishnu Sharma, who tried to organise a demonstration against the demolition, was detained for a short time.

The 10-hour operation was conducted under the guidance of Deputy Commissioner (North-East) S K Malhotra, who is also the chairman of the district task force. The other members of the task force include the area SDMs, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-East), and the Additional DCPs besides other officials. The demolition, however, remained incomplete as four of the structures could not be pulled down by the end of the day.