Pune church demolished despite members claiming court stay

Pune: A church was demolished late Sunday night, September 6, in Pune’s Pimpri-Chinchwad city despite an alleged court stay order, with church members stating no notice was issued before the civic action.

The Municipal Corporation maintained that it carried out a major demolition drive against unauthorised construction in the Rajwade Nagar area of Kalewadi, adding that structures spread across 7,400 square feet were demolished. In the statement, the civic body did not mention the court proceedings or stay order as claimed by the church members.

Rose, who has been going to the church for nearly 10 years, told The Free Press Journal that the members only learnt about the operation at night and immediately arrived at the scene. “When we arrived, three JCBs were parked here and a very large police force was deployed,” she said.

According to Rose, roughly 700 police officials were at the site. Despite church members informing the authorities about the court stay and the hearing scheduled for the next day, the authorities continued the demolition.

She said authorities entered the premises and forced people out of the structure. “We had a stay order. The hearing was on Monday. Whatever the court says, we will cooperate,” she said. Rose added that the officials prevented the church members from taking photos and videos of the demolition. She alleged that they faced threats of having their mobile phones seized and damaged.

The demolition damaged fans and internal fittings inside the church, which were built through contributions from low-income members, Rose said. “We work hard. Many of our people are quite poor.”