Villagers raze mosque, madrassa on govt land ahead of anti-encroachment drive

MEERUT: Villagers in Mubarakpur Band village of Sambhal began demolishing parts of an alleged illegal mosque, madrassa and shops themselves after authorities ordered action against structures said to have come up on govt land meant for a playground and manure pits. The demolition drive, which continued over the past week in Asmoli police station area, followed an inquiry that confirmed encroachment on around 3.5 bighas, officials said.

Authorities said villagers had so far manually demolished parts of the mosque, madrassa and five shops, while the primary school building and eight houses were yet to be razed. Tehsildar Dhirendra Singh said the drive continued on Monday. “These structures were found built illegally on govt land. Notices had been issued earlier, and demolition is continuing,” he said.

Residents said they had sought a bulldozer to speed up the work, but no machine reached the village on Monday. Village pradhan’s husband Haji Munawwar said, “We informed the lekhpal as well, but he did not come to the village. The JCB machine also did not arrive on Monday, so people here continued the demolition on their own.”

Munawwar said a JCB operator who came on Sunday charged Rs 2,100 for working for two hours and 18 minutes but stopped short of bringing down the mosque’s 35-foot minaret. “When he was asked to demolish the minaret, he refused, saying there was a risk of injury, and after that he did not return,” he said.

After that, villagers began jointly removing the remaining illegal structures themselves. Earlier, a contract worth Rs 80,000 had been given to a local man, Abid, to demolish the madrasa and the shops, but the process remained incomplete.The shops under demolition included a samosa-pakora shop run by Mohd Hamid, a vegetable shop owned by Mohd Afzal, another samosa-pakora shop run by Shane Alam, a medical store owned by Mohd Farman, and a Jan Seva Kendra run by Mohd Ajgar.