Bulldozers entered the Shaheen Bagh area on Monday after the South Delhi Municipal Corporation ordered a demolition drive in the locality that was at the centre of the anti-CAA stir in 2019 and 2020. On Monday as local residents protested the presence of the bulldozer, the civic body had to stop the drive.

Here are 10 key developments of the story:

The demolition drive was taken up by south Delhi’s BJP-ruled civic body. A bulldozer arrived amid heavy police presence as local people protested against the move.

The bulldozer arrived at Shaheen Bagh around 10:15 am. Congress workers sat on the front of the machine to block the bulldozer’s path.

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AAP’s Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan arrived at the scene and said that all illegal structures were removed already and none were left. Khan also said that the civic body brought the bulldozer to show that he is obstructing their work.

The bulldozer tried to remove a scaffolding set up for the painting of a building when Khan intervened. He had a brief chat with representatives of the local market association in the presence of police and had a temporary structure removed. The bulldozer returned soon after.

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A senior official of the civic body said that the municipality will do its work.

Earlier, Rajpal, a senior functionary of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation, had told news agency ANI that the “municipality will do its work”. “Our workers and officials are ready, teams and bulldozers have been organised. Encroachments will be removed wherever they are,” he had said. South Delhi mayor Mukesh Suryan had said that the people of Delhi support this drive.

Last month Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta wrote to mayor Suryan demanding removal of encroachment by “Rohingya, Bangladeshis and anti-social elements”.

Shaheen Bagh came into the limelight when it became the centre for naitionwide protests against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in 2019-2020. Activists and opposition parties alleged that the anti-encroachment drive is aimed at targeting a community.

Last month, on April 20, a similar excercise was carried out in Jahangirpuri as bulldozers destroyed homes and shops. Structures near a mosque, which was at the centre of the Hanuman Jayanti clash, were also destroyed.

The south Delhi civic body carried out the demolition drive despite the Supreme Court ordered it to stop the drive and the court had to intervene again. The Supreme Court is hearing petitions challenging the “anti-encroachment” drives in areas including Shaheen Bagh.

Raja Iqbal Singh, mayor of North Delhi Municipal Corporation, had termed the drive in Jahangirpuri a “routine exercise”, the timing, especially since it came right after the BJP’s chief letter, prompted questions on political motives.