By Ghazala Ahmad
A mosque located inside the Saharanpur Collectorate campus in Uttar Pradesh was demolished at around 5 am on Saturday, September 5, amid heavy police deployment, days after a district court upheld the administration’s decision declaring the structure an “unauthorised” occupation of government land.
The demolition came shortly after the District Judge’s court on September 4 dismissed an appeal filed by the mosque management committee and upheld an earlier order directing the structure’s removal.
The administration had declared the mosque illegal in July and ordered its demolition after proceedings under the Uttar Pradesh Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1972.
The demolition was carried out early Saturday morning, with a large police contingent deployed in the area.
SP MP Iqra Hasan under house arrest
Ahead of the demolition, Samajwadi Party Lok Sabha MP from Kairana Iqra Hasan was placed under house arrest at her residence in Kairana, apparently preventing her from travelling to Saharanpur.
Videos from outside her residence showed a heavy police presence. Her personal assistant also confirmed to Maktoob that Hasan had been confined to her residence since Friday night, with a large number of police personnel deployed outside her home.
Her PA told Maktoob, “She has been under house arrest since last night, restricting her movement, and police personnel were also deployed outside the house in Kairana.”
“A large police force was deployed at my Kairana residence overnight, and I was placed under house arrest to prevent me from going to Saharanpur,” Hasan said.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.
