Saharanpur: Illegal mosque inside DM office complex demolished under high security

NEW DELHI: Authorities on Saturday demolished a mosque located inside the District Magistrate's office complex in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur after a court upheld an earlier order declaring the structure illegal.Senior administrative officials, including the District Magistrate and Sub-Divisional Magistrate, reached the site as bulldozers began demolishing the structure. The Collectorate complex was placed under heavy security, with Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel deployed and all gates shut as a precaution. The demolition came a day after the District Judge's court dismissed an appeal filed by the Muslim side challenging the City Magistrate's order.On September 4, the District Judge's court, after hearing arguments from both sides and examining the evidence presented, upheld the City Magistrate's order declaring the mosque illegal.The City Magistrate's court had on July 17 ordered the demolition of the mosque and imposed compensation of around Rs 6.41 crore on the occupants over alleged illegal encroachment and misuse of government land. The case was initiated following a complaint by Vikas Tyagi, former provincial coordinator of Bajrang Dal, who alleged that the mosque had been built illegally inside the DM office complex, a sensitive government premises where confidential administrative work is carried out. The complaint also alleged that the premises were being used for commercial purposes apart from religious activities. According to the allegations, a post office was operating from the site and some rooms had been rented out to outsiders, with the mosque committee allegedly collecting monthly rent.The district administration had argued that the alleged encroachment and commercial use of the premises raised security concerns, particularly given the sensitive nature of government operations conducted there.The development comes amid similar administrative action against alleged illegal religious structures in various parts of Uttar Pradesh. Rohitashwa Ranjan is a digital journalist with The Times of India, where he decodes Indian politics as a carefully staged production with scripts, subtext and everything behind. His stories track elections, party dynamics and the things that often are buried beneath the headlines. When not parsing vote shares or alliances, he is usually reading between the lines, where the real story tends to reside.