Ranchi, April 26: A group of encroachers today went berserk during a demolition drive near Imli Chowk in Harmu and pelted stones, injuring an earthmover operator, besides ransacking the office and residence of an executive engineer of Jharkhand State Housing Board (JSHB).

The violence prompted the JSHB to suspend the anti-encroachment drive, which will resume tomorrow.

As many as 50 huts had already been demolished at the illegal settlement in the Argora police station area when suddenly some residents started pelting stones at earth mover operator Sambhu Yadav around 2pm.

Amidst the commotion, the mob suddenly rushed towards the residence of the board’s executive engineer Nawal Kishore Singh — which is 1km away — and ransacked it while his wife and two daughters were inside.

“They did not even spare the residence of the board’s accounts clerk, Sanjeev Kumar, which is adjacent to Singh’s house. The mob broke window glasses and asbestos roofs besides pelting stones,” Arwind Kumar, a local resident said.

The ransacking continued for 20 minutes. All this while, the family members of both Singh and Kumar kept themselves locked in a room. “We would have been killed had we come out. The protesters left with threats to set our houses on fire at night,” said Kumar’s wife Sukirti Kumari.

Not content with venting their anger on his house, the protesters then targeted Singh’s office. They broke a signboard, damaged the water purifier meant for office staff and ransacked the furniture in the accounts wing.

Confirming the incidents, managing director of the board Vinay Kumar Choubey said trouble continued till 4.30pm after which the residents were promised proper rehabilitation.

Asked what they had in mind, Choubey said, “Those displaced by the anti-encroachment drive will be provided houses at Bargama and Vidyanagar under the Balmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana.”

An FIR was registered at Argora police station. Security personnel have been deputed around the board office to avoid any untoward incident. No one has been arrested yet.

Ajay Tirkey, who was leading the mob, justified their action. “Board officials are demolishing houses of the poor only while the rich are being spared. Efforts are being made to regularise their illegally constructed house. This is partiality and we will not tolerate it,” he said.