Madhyapur Thimi, May 31:

Over 36 houses built in a public land in Madhyapur Thimi were demolished today. Some people living in the illegally-built houses and locals of Imadol were injured in a scuffle that erupted in course of vacating the land belonging to the Manohara Land Plotting Project (MLPP). With support from policemen, officials of the Madhyapur Thimi Municipality, KMC and locals demolished the houses, which were built in the area in January.

According to Ganesh Thapaliya, assistant administrative officer at the MLPP, “Residents were given seven-days’ notice to vacate the houses illegally built on the land registered in the name of Shree Panch Ko Bayu Devata Guthi.”

“The Guthi Sansthan Kathmandu clarified on May 16 that the land does not belong to the Devata Guthi,” Thapaliya said.

Dharma Jit Lama, a victim, said they registered the land as Shree Panch Ko Bayu Devata Guthi — a trust — through Puskar Basnet. He said each of them paid three lakh rupees to register three anna of land.

Around 200 police officers and 300 locals demolished the houses. According to locals of Imadol, brokers had sold the land belonging to the project for Rs 25,000 to Rs 1,00,000 per anna. A person has been threatening to kill the project chief, Sanjaya Raj Upadhya.