On the morning of October 31, bulldozers rolled into a small settlement near the KG Halli Railway Gate in Bengaluru. Within hours, a tightly knit cluster of 29 homes was reduced to rubble. The demolition drive, carried out by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) for the Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project, left around 150 residents homeless and distraught.

The area was home to a largely Tamil-speaking Dalit population, with a few Muslim families, many of whom have lived here for generations, working as daily-wage labourers, domestic workers and garment factory employees. While officials insist the evictions followed due process, residents say they were given no notice and no time to move, losing everything in one morning.

The RPF carried out the eviction drive to clear what it termed as encroa

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