VISAKHAPATNAM: Former MP Sabbam Hari was in the news for wrong reasons on Saturday after officials of Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) demolished a toilet that was allegedly constructed by the leader on an encroached government land. Tension prevailed for a brief while after the angry former MP and a handful of his supporters tried to obstruct the GVMC staff from discharging their duties.

Finally, police had to intervene and restrain Sabbam Hari. According to details, Sabbam Hari, known for parroting scruples and ethics during television debates, was found to have allegedly encroached a 12-feet government land adjacent to his house and illegally constructed a toilet in that space. He is also accused of merging some more government land into his own property. On coming to know of this blatant alleged encroachment, the GVMC officials promptly served a notice on Sabbam Hari asking him to immediately remove the illegal structure from the government land.

According to the GVMC authorities, the former MP did not pay heed to the notice which prompted them to initiate corrective measures. Descending on Hari’s house armed with a JCB on Saturday morning, the GVMC authorities demolished the illegally constructed toilet. They even put up a fencing to restrict access to the piece of government land. But unable to stomach this corrective action, Sabbam Hari resorted to tongue-lashing at the civic authorities and even treated them with open threats like ‘I will break your necks’. With a few of his supporters also turning hostile against the civic body staff, the situation became tense.

But soon, police teams rushed to the spot and tried to restrain them from obstructing the GVMC authorities in their duties. Giving details on the dispute, GVMC ACP Mahapatra said: “The 12-feet land that Sabbam Hari encroached belongs to the government as per records. We have removed the structures constructed in the encroached land. We have also erected a fencing in the cleared land. There is no truth in Sabbam Hari’s claims that we have taken the action without any prior intimation. We have served a notice on him asking for the removal of the illegal structure. But he did not respond to the notice. Only then, we have initiated action to remove the toilet and reclaim the encroached piece of land.”