As the news about the impending demolition drive spread, a large number of Kajheri residents gathered on the streets around 8 a.m. and pelted the enforcement staff with stones, forcing the accompanying police personnel to resort to a mild lathicharge. Five persons, including area pradhan Naseeb Singh, were injured in the process. Six persons were arrested on the charges of disrupting the demolition drive. They were later released on bail.

The demolition drive, supervised by SDM (South) Ashish Kundra, began at 9.30 a.m. and lasted for eight hours. Kundra said all constructions built on and after January 1, 1998 were "unauthorised and illegal". Officials added that all such constructions, including three-storeyed buildings, were razed to the ground. Nearly 150 workers, equipped with five bulldozers and other equipment, were put on the job and all Kajheri entry points were sealed.

Besides the Chandigarh Police, personnel of the Madhya Pradesh Special Armed Police Force were deployed in large numbers to maintain order.

The affected residents of Anandpur Complex, however, criticised the move and said the demolition drive was against the principles of natural justice. "We have not been provided an opportunity to show cause and explain our position," Prem Lata, a housewife, told Newsline. "I and my 13-year-old handicapped daughter have been residing in this newly-constructed house for the past three years. While purchasing the land, I had sold all my ornaments," she added, weeping.

Demanding strict action against the UT Estate Office officials for registration of plots measuring more than a marla, rickshaw-puller Ram Avtar, whose hutment was also demolished, said the residents should have been given three months' time to move out.

A few months ago, nearly 35 houses were razed to the ground in a similar anti-encroachment drive in Raipur Kalan and local MP Satya Pal had assured residents that no demolition would take place in future.

Meanwhile, a delegation of the Action Committee for Development of UT Villages, led by general secretary Chaman Lal, met the Adviser to the Administrator, who reportedly assured that no structure raised before January 1, 1998 would be demolished.

Demanding adequate compensation, the committee has decided to meet at the Sector 17 Football Stadium on March 6 to discuss the future course of action. In the meantime, various political parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party, Bharatiya Yuva Janata Morcha, Samata Party and Gram Vikas Samiti, have condemned the demolition of newly-built houses.