Cab-drivers threaten "bloodshed" if evicted from SDA plot

Taxi-drivers who have allegedly converted a prime plot of land belonging to Srinagar Development Authority (SDA) into a taxi-stand, have warned of "bloodshed" if any attempts were made to evict them, an official said today.
"They (encroachers) said there will be bloodshed if they were evicted forcibly," said Rubina Kausar, the Director (Land Management) of SDA, who had met the representatives of the alleged encroachers.
"But they did not threaten any official," she added.
Another official, however, alleged that one of the representatives, Fayaz Ahmad, had told them that there were ex-militants amongst them and there would be "bloodshed" if any attempt was made to evict them.

Kausar, however, said she cannot recall any of the representatives having made a claim about ex-militants being a part of their group.
Ahmad said he and his associates wanted to lead normal lives and had sought two kanals of land (nearly 11,000sq.Ft) anywhere in the heart of the city for operating the taxi stand.
The ring leader of the encroachers even admitted that some elements in the administration were backing their illegal occupation of the prime land, located on the Maulana Azad Link Road here.
"I swear by the Almighty that if there had been nobody to stop us, seven to eight persons would have been killed since morning (of the day when the meeting took place between the SDA officials and the encroachers)," Ahmad had allegedly said.