The administration in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal district on Thursday carried out the demolition of a mosque on Waqf land in the Qutubpur Sakta area, saying it was being illegally constructed without the permission of the Waqf Board, officials told news agency IANS.

Source: IANS

The unauthorised construction, as the administration described it, was underway on approximately 130 square metres of land. Officials said the demolition was ordered after the mosque caretaker reportedly failed to produce the required construction permission. A large number of security personnel were deployed at the site to oversee what officials said was the peaceful execution of the demolition orders.

What the officials said

Sambhal Tehsildar Dhirendra Kumar Singh told IANS that the land had been declared Waqf property by the Waqf Board. "Any new construction cannot take place on a Waqf property without the permission of the Waqf Board. Here, people had not only carried out construction work but they had also started offering 'namaz', which was opposed by locals in the area," he said.

The Tehsildar added that when the District Minority Welfare Office in Sambhal probed the matter, the Waqf Board informed it that no permission had been sought for any construction on the land. "That is why this illegal structure is being removed today... only those structures which have been permitted by the Waqf Board will be allowed, the rest will be demolished," he said.

Asmoli Circle Officer Aman Singh said villagers had informed police and revenue teams about a month ago that a mosque was being illegally constructed on residential land and needed to be stopped. A joint team of police and revenue officials investigated and found the construction illegal, after which the Sambhal SDM issued directions for demolition, he said.

Inshorts, summarising agency reports, said the structure had been built on a 130-square-metre portion of land recorded as Waqf property and was demolished with a bulldozer on Thursday. No reaction from the mosque committee or local community representatives had been reported in the agency reports at the time of publication.

Source: Inshorts