Surat: What was one of Gujarat’s most mysterious demolitions — carried out in broad daylight under heavy police deployment and the presence of senior Surat Municipal Corporation officials — has taken 21 days to unravel.On Saturday, Surat Municipal Commissioner M Nagrajan issued a video statement confirming that the demolition was indeed carried out by the SMC.“The SMC central zone team went to Nasir Nagar on May 30 with required police bandobast. The team went for demarcation work, during which demolition was also undertaken by zonal officials,” he said.He, however, refrained from further elaboration, noting that the matter is sub judice. “SMC will submit the required documents in the court, and the court order will be implemented strictly,” he added.For days after the razing that left hundreds homeless, the civic body remained evasive, with officials repeatedly stating that the SMC team had gone to the site only for “demarcation”, even opposition leaders upped their ante alleging procedural violations.Earlier, on June 10, Nagrajan stated that he was not aware who had carried out the demolition and that an inquiry committee had been constituted to examine the circumstances.In a video statement after bitter criticism, zonal head and additional city engineer Ashish Naik stated that SMC officials went on leave due to health issues arising from the “mental pressure” generated by the controversy.
