Anti-demolition protest: Delhi police remove former CM Atishi from protest spot, detained - watch video

NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former Delhi chief minister Atishi was detained by the Delhi Police on Tuesday as she was participating in a protest against demolition at the Bhoomiheen Camp in Kalkaji.

The demonstration was organised to oppose the planned demolition activity.

Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of running bulldozers over the Bhoomiheen Camp, Atishi claimed that a large number of security personnel had been deployed in Bhoomiheen Camp.Notices for eviction have been affixed by the Delhi Development Authority on dwellings in the jhuggi-jhopri settlement, giving "encroachers" a three-day ultimatum to vacate or risk consequences.The settlement, primarily inhabited by migrant labourers, has experienced three demolition operations in the past year -- in May and June this year and July 2023.In a post on X, Atishi said, "The BJP is going to bulldoze the landless camp in Kalkaji. When those people raised their voice, the police took them away. When I went there to meet the local residents, I was also arrested by the BJP police."In another post she said, "Tomorrow the BJP is going to run a bulldozer on the landless camp.

Today the slum dwellers were going to protest so the BJP government has sent thousands of police and CRPF."Reminding Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta old statement over demolishing slum areas, Atishi asked why is so much police and CRPF deployed at the camp site. Gupta had on Sunday said the authorities cannot go against demolition orders issued by the courts and stressed that the displaced residents have been provided accommodation.The remarks came amid criticism from the opposition AAP over the razing of the Madrasi Camp slum cluster near Barapullah in south Delhi, and similar demolition drives in other parts of the city.