Two children gather their books amid the rubble of their hut razed by BBMP and police in Bellandur on Sunday.

BENGALURU: Twenty-four hours after the demolition of 300 huts in three settlements of Bellandur on the pretext that they were illegal migrants from Bangladesh, BBMP on Monday admitted the "blatantly illegal" action was conducted without issuing notices to the people concerned.

BBMP called the demolition a "rogue act by its lower-level officials" and suspended Narayana Swamy, an assistant executive engineer, Mahadevapura.

"We've no business evicting people from a private land and demolishing their structures without issuing notices to them. This is not our method of operation. I had not been informed about it," BBMP commissioner BH Anil Kumar told TOI.

The 300 huts stood on three strips of land and belonged to over 10 individuals, said additional commissioner and jurisdictional Mahadevapura additional commissioner D Randeep. No official was forthcoming on the identity of the landowners.

Randeep said the affected people were residing on private land and BBMP had no right to demolish their houses. "I asked the Mahadevapura joint commissioner to submit a report on the demolition before 5pm on Monday. I have not received it. We will wait for 24 more hours. If the deadlines are not met, then the officials will face the music," he added.

"Even if a private landowner wants BBMP to conduct a demolition, a report needs to be prepared, the joint commissioner needs to bring it to the notice of zonal officers, then needs to be inspected and signed off by the BBMP commissioner. This was not done in the case," Randeep said.

Were asked to evict them, says official

T The callous conduct of AEE Narayana Swamy has brought disrepute to BBMP. Every officer needs to follow protocol, which includes bringing such information to our notice before taking action,” Randeep said.

Narayana Swamy, who on Saturday sought in writing police protection for the drive, claimed the demolition was carried out by police in plainclothes and he wasn’t present at the spot. He, however, admitted to writing the letter, but said it was routine and was used by police to act on their own. He claimed that open defecation by the migrants in violation of Swachh Survekshan Abhiyan was the biggest concern raised by neighbourhood residents.

Claiming that he was under political pressure, he said officers were caught between politicians and the public. Asked how did they conclude they were illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, Swamy said, “Political leaders have tweeted about these illegal migrants and we were asked to evict them.” Randeep wondered how police proceeded on Swamy’s request without verification and took part in the eviction drive.

Whitefield DCP MN Anucheth told TOI they had deliberately sent plainclothesmen as there were attempts to portray the drive as a police initiative. “We were there to provide security to the BBMP officials,” he added. Mahadevapura chief engineer Parameshwariah said a similar drive was conducted earlier too, but this time it is being blown out of proportion due to NRC and CAA.

