India, April 13 -- Sir,

On Apr. 5, residents of 2nd Cross Street near Surya Bakery in Hebbal were left shocked when earth-movers suddenly showed up, ripping out stone slabs laid in front of their homes - all under the pretext of drain repair.

To make matters worse, the workers callously smashed through a water pipeline without a second thought.

What raised serious suspicion was the selective nature of this so-called "repair work" - homes in upper stretch of the lane were left untouched while only those in the lower stretch had their slabs torn away, seemingly at random.

When residents stepped forward to question the workers, they were met not with answers, but with arrogance. They flatly refused to reveal the name or contact number of...