According to details, suspects Hassan Qadir, Salab Khan, Israr and Haider Qadir were granted bail today by a local court under the Antiquity Law. It was alleged that the four suspects had had a hand in the partial demolition of Raj Kapoor’s haveli, which is located at Dhaki Munawar Shah near Sarfaraz bazaar.
The lawyers of the suspects argued that his clients were not involved in the demolition of the haveli. He said the local residents feared for their safety due to the poor condition of the haveli and had asked the present owners to take it down. The lawyer also argued that the building was in a dilapidated condition and could fall down any moment. Hence, it did pose a great deal of risk for people.
The lawyer also argued that the building was never declared an antiquity and an offence under the Antiquity Law was a bailable one. His clients were only labourers and were part of the decision to demolish the building, argued their lawyer. He also disclosed that the building was in a poor state and had further been deteriorated due to the 2005 October earthquake.
A case of the Raj Kapoor haveli demolition was registered on the complaint of archaeology department director Dr Abdus Samad under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Antiquity Act 1997. The present owners of the building had demolished two stories of the haveli until the archaeology department interfered.
Yesterday, Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor had reacted to the news and said he harboured no emotional attachment with the haveli and had no objections to the Pakistani government demolishing it.
