Nearly four years after the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) attached a Dalibagh property belonging to the wife of Ghazipur MP Afzal Ansari under the Gangsters Act, the family regained possession of the property on Wednesday—only to find its main access route blocked by walls.
The dispute over access became the main hurdle in what was otherwise the formal restoration of possession. Residents of the locality, speaking on condition of anonymity, alleged that the walls had been built by the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) during the development of the adjoining Sardar Vallabhbhai housing apartments. The family is now seeking removal of the obstruction to restore access to the house.
Walls and construction material were blocking what they claimed was the original main entrance and vehicular approach to the house, according to the family. The family questioned how a wall had come up at the property’s original entrance and said they were unaware of when or why it had been constructed.
Ansari reached the property around 11am but had to wait for more than six hours before the family could enter the premises. The development has left the family with possession of the property but, for now, without the direct access they claim was available before the adjoining housing project was developed. Additional municipal commissioner Pankaj Srivastava said that as per official orders, the LMC handed over possession of the property on Wednesday and that any further action would be dealt with by the departments concerned.
