Cop’s sons encroached upon our bldg, say villagers

Bijnor: Members of the Dalit community in Bijnor’s Swahedi village staged a protest outside the SP’s office on Saturday, claiming that a community dharamshala was being encroached upon by a family living adjacent to it and the administration had turned a blind eye to it.
Mangal Singh, a villager, said, “Ravidas dharmashala is a community spot for Dalits in the area.Members of our community host weddings and other events at the venue. It also has rooms for accommodating our guests. Deep Kumar and Sandeep Kumar, who are sons of a local cop, Viresh Singh, and who live next to the dharamshala, forcefully started constructing a gate in our premises. We gave a written complaint to the SDM on June 1 against these armed strongmen. As no action was taken, they proceeded with the construction.”
Babu Ram, another villager, said, “The gate will open into the dharamshala premises. This construction is an encroachment and must be stopped immediately.”
Station officer Ajay Kumar Gautam said, “Viresh Kumar’s house is 20 years old. He says he used to have an old wooden door that opened in the same direction but that is now decaying. That is why his sons are constructing a new gate. We have called both sides to sit together and resolve the issue.”