Two illegal mosques, madrasa demolished in Sambhal; government land to be allotted to beneficiaries

In a major anti-encroachment operation on Sunday, authorities demolished two illegal mosques and a madrasa in Sambhal district.

The first action took place in Hajipur village under Asmoli police station, where villagers themselves had already demolished a mosque overnight using hammers and chisels, ahead of the administration’s arrival.

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The mosque had been constructed on 1,339 square metres (approximately 1.5 bighas) of land. When the administrative team reached the site in the morning, only debris remained.

Tehsildar Dhirendra Pratap Singh commented that “God gave the villagers wisdom to remove the illegal structure themselves.” The administration cleared the rubble with bulldozers within three hours.

The second operation also took place in Hajipur, about 500 metres from the first site, where a madrasa was demolished. Announcements were made using drums, and three bulldozers were deployed to clear 1,500 square metres of land. District officials, police, and a large security contingent were present, while drone surveillance monitored the operation.

The third demolition occurred in Raya Buzurg village, approximately 11 km from the madrasa site. Two bulldozers were used to remove a mosque built on 1,500 square meters of government land. Officials noted that a demolition notice had been issued on October 2, but the mosque committee had approached the High Court. The court eventually dismissed their appeal, allowing the demolition to proceed.

District Magistrate Rajendra Pensia stated that the madrasa, constructed on 1,500 square metres of land, was being used for commercial purposes, including renting out shops. A tehsildar had issued a demolition order from the court one and a half months ago. After the High Court rejected the committee’s appeal, a 15-day notice was served, which expired on Sunday.

Tehsildar Dhirendra Pratap Singh said that in June 2018, a revenue officer had reported that Haji Shamim had illegally occupied government land to build the mosque. Based on this report, a case titled Gram Sabha vs Haji Shamim Mutawalli was filed and processed in the tehsildar’s court.

DM Rajendra Pensia and SP Krishna Kumar Vishnoi were present at the sites. Following the demolition, 20 selected beneficiaries will be allotted the land. The DM stated that the mosque had been illegally constructed 25 years ago, and despite a previous demolition order and fines totaling Rs 58 lakh (including Rs 8.78 lakh on the mosque’s mutawalli), the illegal structure had not been pulled down.

An enforcement team, including an ASP, two tehsildars, one CO, six revenue officers, and 24 patwaris, was formed to ensure the removal of illegal constructions. However, before the bulldozers could arrive on Sunday, villagers had already dismantled one of the mosques themselves.