Several of people — mostly children — were injured as a mob clashed with police while resisting the eviction of Illegal occupants in the city’s Mohammadpur Ghaznavt Road yesterday.

Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) men and police evicted the illegal occupants, mainly Stranded Pakistanis In Bangladesh (Biharis) from the roadsides near the Geneva Camp around 11 in the mom-ing.

Police lobbed teargas shells to disperse the mob which demonstrated and barricaded the DCC men and police, temporarily preventing them from carrying out the scheduled eviction, witnesses said

However, the DCC men bulldozed several dozen shops, shanty houses of illegal occupants and the ward office of the ruling BNP on both sides of Ghaznavi Road within one hour.

The occupants and leaders of the Stranded Pakistanis’ General Repatriation Commi Hee (SPGRC) alleged that the DCC authorities evicted the people without any prior notice

But the DCC men refuted the allegation and said it was their scheduled programme and the illegal occupants were asked to vacate the govern ment land by the end of last month

Of the 18.000 stranded Pakistanis living in the Geneva Camp. some 200 occupied the roadsides, building shops and thatched huts.

Some of the illegal occu pant* were running their shops by themselves while the others rented their shops to Bangladeshis

Habib Mia. -owner of an auto-rickshaw garage that was bulldozed yesterday, said. "I hired the shop from a stranded Pakistani Nurul Islam, five years back and I paid him Tk 300 per month as

Dr Shah Alam Chowdhury, president of Ward No-14 BNP. said his party office was looted after the eviction

There were a TV set and other valuables in the office but I did not find anything after the eviction."

He also alleged that he was not served any notice for the DC' eviction

SPGRC chief Nasim Khan said his people were living there since the independence of Bangladesh

"My people are waiting for repatriation They were do mg something for their living as the relief was not adequate for them But the government did not allow it," Nasim Khan said.