A group of hawkers on Thursday demonstrated against AOA's attempt of not allowing a hawker, Shamshad Ali, to reset his shop demolished by the GDA as it was illegal.
The Apartment Owners' Association (AOA) of Mahagun Mansion Phase I, a high-rise in Indirapuram, alleged a group of hawkers for criminal intimidation and complained against them in Indirapuram police station on Thursday.
"A group of hawkers came and threatened to kill our society residents," JK Khosla, member of the AOA.
On Thursday, a group of hawkers demonstrated against AOA's attempt of not allowing a hawker, Shamshad Ali, to reset his shop demolished in an anti-encroachment drive by the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) on Wednesday.
"How could we allow him? His shop is at the boundary of the society, so it is illegal," told AOA officials.
The shop, which Shamshad operated is a makeshift setup where he sells mattresses for last many years. However, the place from where he operated is a slab covering the drain running parallel to the society. Also, his shop covers a part of the society's boundary where a pedestrian gate is proposed. The residents alleged him of encroachment of public place and society's wall.
Meanwhile, Shamshad refused the allegations of AOA and counter alleged the association for extortion and Councillor Abhinav Jain for supporting them in the case with the help of local police.
"I and few other hawkers merely registered our protest when AOA didn't allow me to reset my shop and tried to build a gate on the spot where I operate my shop, just to force me to shift elsewhere," Shamshad said.
"I have been running the business here for a long time. They always wanted to recover rent from me but I always refused. Suddenly, after demolition, they got this chance and demanded Rs 20,000 per month for running the shop," Shamshad alleged the AOA.
However, Jain and AOA officials said that they were just preserving the decision of GDA.
"When GDA had demolished his shop saying it was illegal, what was the point in resetting it? We called police to maintain the status quo after demolition," told Jain.
Meanwhile, AOA reasoned their sudden action of making a pedestrian gate. "For years, we were not able to open that area of the boundary for pedestrians as Shamshad had blocked it. What we did could be seen as a preventive step but is not illegal," said Khosla.
