By IANS
New Delhi : At least 20 people, including women and children, were injured after police fired 12 rounds in the air and charged baton to disperse hundreds of protestor who blocked rail and road traffic near international airport in southwest Delhi, reports said Tuesday.
The incident occurred late Monday night, when angry villagers of Shahbad Mohammadpur turned violent and threw stones at the security personnel, protesting construction of a boundary wall near their village by authorities under airport revamp plan. Some policemen were also injured in the clashes.
The villagers burnt a truck and a bulldozer after IBM Global Business Services, which is building a new terminal at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, closed a road leading to their village.
The mob also blocked railway tracks passing through the village, delaying the movement of several trains on the Delhi-Jaipur route.
The protestors feared that the new construction will cut them off from the rest of the city and will cause inconvenience to their movements.
Later, an official of Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) assured the villagers that the road connecting the village would not be closed and authorities are working on alternative routes.
"I don't know how it happened. But one thing I must make clear that the road will not be closed. We will also provide the villagers an alternative road in future," the official added.
"We have arrested seven people on charges of spreading violence and additional police force has been deployed in the area," Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI Airport) Naresh Kumar said.