LAHORE: Scores of people on Monday attacked a joint team of the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) and police and injured eight officials, including five policemen, for launching a major operation to dismantle infrastructure of over 26 illegal subdivisions (small residential schemes) at Mauza Thay Panju and Mauza Jaidu a notified area of the LDA City Housing project.

The attackers also damaged three LDA vehicles two trucks and a car and three buses of Lahore police, forcing the entire team to move away.

They, while terming the officials `Kafirs` through announcement made by the clerics in local mosques, pelted the team with stones besides thrashing some of the officials with clubs at the time when preparations for the second operation were under way at about 11:30am on Monday.

`The operation was planned to be launched on Monday morning and a LDA team comprising officials of the directo-rates of estate management, private housing schemes and enforcement wing of LDA City Housing scheme reached one of the illegal schemes. A number of police officials, headed by the respective SHO, also arrived at the site in three buses. During the operation, the team dismantled the scheme`s office, roads and other infrastructure,` an officer, who was a member of the team, told Dawn.

The official said during the operation a couple of people came to the team and offered slight resistance. However, the police didn`t take action fearing that it might turn into a law and order situation.

Meanwhile, these people approached the local clerics, telling them wrongly that LDA `Kafirs` have arrived in the area to demolish a nearby religious seminary. According to the official, the people, including some armed ones, started gathering on the spot and offered stiff resistance.

`As we were preparing for the second operation, as many as 200 people, many of them were carrying clubs, immediately started pelting us with stones. They also thrashed the officials with clubs besides resorting to aerial firing. During the attack, they damaged two trucks and a car of LDA and three police buses. The attack also left eight officials injured,he said, adding that the police avoided taking action, fearing that the situation might turn volatile.

He said the police asked the LDA officers to postpone the operation, leave the area, file an application for registration of FIR under 7-ATA and other sections, arrest the suspects and then plan an operation.

According to another official source, all such schemes are known as `china cuttings in Lahore` and were unlawfully developed allegedly in connivance with the officers concerned in the LDA`s metropolitan planning wing.

`Some of the attackers were saying that how such operations can be carried out when the LDA people themselves are involved in allowing development of schemes by taking `huge money` from the developers.

`In fact, the operation against illegal subdivisions/china cuttings has been launched after a period of five year that enabled the landowner to develop a number of illegal subdivisions on the land measuring one to three acres (eight to 24 kanals only) or so,` he said.

The source said the attackers also burnt tyres on the road along the canal meant to access the LDA housing scheme.

It may be recalled that on May 4, 2012, the villagers of Nasir Ganj had also attacl(ed LDA team after the latterreached there to take possession of the land acquired for the LDA-Avenue 1 project on Raiwind Road. In this day-long operation which left over a dozen people injured, the LDA had retrieved 250 kanalland the villagers had refused to surrender at a`cheaper` rate of Rs400,000 per acre (eight kanal). During the operation, a number of women had also attacked the then female additional director general, LDA (Headquarters).

Since there are many such incidents, a group of lawyers, in June this year, had also stormed the LDA complex in Johar Town, threatened the officials, thrashed one of them and fled after taking some record in a bid to stop the authorities from probing the bogus plot files.

Meanwhile, the LDA also filed an application to register a case against the attackers. However, FIR was not registered till the filing of this report. When contacted, Lahore Commissioner Muhammad Ali Randhawa, who also holds charge of the office of LDA DG, condemned the attack, saying that he has asked the DIG (operations) for registration of a case.

To a question, he said no one in the pastseriouslytookuptheissues(relating to illegal schemes). `But we are taking these issues promptly in a bid to stop growth of such illegal schemes,` he added.