Niranjan Kumar's kin thank govt. for granting time to remove encroachment

Bengaluru, Aug. 12 (ANI): After the Karnataka Government accepted LT. Col. Niranjan Kumar's family plea to give them some time to remove the encroachment themselves, Niranjan's brother Shashank on Friday thanked the government as well as the media for supporting them. National Security Guard (NSG) commando LT. Col. Niranjan Kumar was killed fighting terrorists at the Pathankot Air Force base. Stating that the family had requested the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for some time so that they could demolish the encroachment themselves, Shashank told ANI that their request was accepted by the government. "We are very thankful to the government for accepting this issue. We would be starting the demolition today itself," Shashank added. He further said, "Like all other cities, we should also face this because it is rules and rules should be followed by everyone. We shouldn't go against the law and there should not be any special treatment to us." Meanwhile, Karnataka MLA N.A. Haris on Friday clarified that what should have happened 25 years ago is being done now in order to save the city, adding that any delay in the work would not harm Bengaluru. Stating that it's not just the house of the general masses that had been affected, he further said action has been taken against houses and offices of more than 20 officials for illegal encroachments. Haris further said, "The government is very stern on this, we want to clear it, we want to save Bangalore. We want to see that there is no such problem in future." In Doddabommasandra, the civic body demolished 20 properties on Thursday in addition to the 50 demolished on Wednesday. Nearly 100 houses have been razed across the city making several families homeless. The BBMP has identified 1,923 encroachments, some of which have already been removed in earlier drives. (ANI)