Demolition work continued on Tuesday in the Dal Mandi area in Varanasi for road widening and strengthening. This is part of the Uttar Pradesh BJP government’s road-widening project.
The demolition drive in Dalmandi Market on Monday was one of the largest single-day bulldozer actions by the Adityanath government in recent days.
On Monday, a shopkeeper, in protest, poured inflammable material on his balcony and set it on fire. Based on the complaint of Dal Mandi outpost in-charge Prakash Singh Chauhan, a case has been registered at the Chowk police station against Ajmat and Farooq Khan, and other unidentified individuals under Section 221 of the BNS and Section 7 of the CL Act.
On Tuesday, Assistant Police Commissioner Dr. Atul Anjan Tripathi stated that Farooq has been arrested, while Ajmat remains at large. Ajmat was the one who set the fire. The demolition of the remaining 21 dilapidated houses that were scheduled to be demolished yesterday will continue today.
The team is carrying out demolition operations on the identified buildings. More than 30 houses have been demolished so far. KK Singh, Executive Engineer of the Public Works Department (PWD), stated that notices have already been issued to the owners of dilapidated buildings.
Meanwhile, women, along with men, have now begun protesting the ongoing demolition drive in Dal Mandi. During the crackdown, women continuously came out of their homes and protested. Currently, PAC personnel have been deployed along with forces from several police stations, and drone surveillance is being conducted.
On January 31, 2026, demolition notices were served on 29 properties, terming them dilapidated and unfit for residence and normal use. The residents and shop-owners, however, said they were given notice to do repair work, and not for demolition.