This morning, around 5:30 am, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation authorities arrived at the area surrounding Chandola Lake with over 50 JCB machines and 40 bulldozers.
The Chandola Lake area spans 1,200 hectares and was also known as ‘Mini Bangladesh’. It had become a filthy and degraded region, notorious for various criminal activities over the last 50 years.
The area was so densely populated that even a bicycle couldn’t navigate its narrow lanes. Traditionally home to Muslim migrants from West Bengal, many Bangladeshis had now taken residence here.
The area was infamous for criminal activities, including drug trafficking, prostitution, child prostitution, money laundering, and connections to terrorist organisations.
One of the primary illegal activities in the region involved the creation of fake documents.
The first target for demolition was the farmhouse of dreaded criminal Lallu Bihari, who lived in the area and ran his crime network from there.
The demolition team from Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation was accompanied by officers from the Police, Crime Branch, Special Operations Group (SOG), Cyber Crime, and Special Reserve Police (SRP), among others, including SOG DCP-ACP, EOW ACP, Women’s Crime ACP, Cyber Crime ACP, and a large number of PIs and PSIs. In total, 2,000 local police officers and 15 companies of SRP participated in the operation.
Eighteen residents of Indian origin approached the Gujarat High Court for a stay order, but the court rejected the plea, stating that some people living in the region were found to have links with international terrorist organisations.
The area was considered a threat to national security.
The area consisted of 1,500-2,000 huts, built over and around two lakes—‘Chhota Chandola Talav’ and ‘Bada Chandola Talav’.
In response to a request for a 15-day notice, the court ruled that no notice was required to remove illegal constructions on government land.
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