Police, BMC claim no prior knowledge of 2016 Ambedkar Bhavan demolition
Mumbai Police Commissioner and BMC officials have informed the Bombay High Court that they were unaware of the late-night demolition of Buddha Bhushan Printing Press and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Bhavan in Dadar in June 2016. In their affidavits responding to petitions, including one by Prakash Y. Ambedkar of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, they maintained the action was carried out by a private trust without civic permission.
Police Commissioner Deven Bharti stated that a crowd gathered at the site during the intervening night of June 24-25, 2016, was a "flash crowd" with no prior intelligence input. Police first learned of the situation around 2.30 am on June 25 when a patrolling team noticed 125-150 persons assembled nearby. A trustee allegedly informed the on-duty officer that demolition was being carried out under a BMC notice. Two FIRs were registered the following morning.
