By Rahul M

New Delhi, February 28: The house of Wakeel Hassan, who headed the group of rat miners who saved the lives of 41 trapped workers in Uttarkashi’s Silkyara tunnel, has been bulldozed by the Delhi Development Authority. According to reports, DDA authorities brought a bulldozer and demolished Wakeel Hassan’s house on Wednesday, February 28. Hassan was allegedly detained by the police when his house was razed.

Hassan alleged that the DDA had not issued any notice to him before demolishing his house. “My house was the only thing that I had asked for as a reward, but the DDA demolished my house without any notice,” he said, adding that the government had promised not to touch his house. Hassan owns Delhi-based Rockwell Enterprises.

Hassan and his team of rat miners was called to Silkyara on November 15 last year when all efforts to rescue 41 trapped workers from a collapsed tunnel had not yielded desired results. His team had dug the last stretch of the tunnel that led to the successful evacuation of 41 trapped workers. Notably, they had refused to accept the relief amount announced by Uttarakhand Chief Minister for their heroic act.

This story was originally published in freepressjournal.in. Read the full story here.