Sambhal, June 6 (IANS) The Uttar Pradesh administration on Saturday demolished the Mustafa Qadri Mosque here which, officials said, was illegally constructed on a portion of a graveyard.

Speaking to reporters, District Magistrate (DM) Ankit Khandelwal said: “In this district, illegal encroachments on public land are being continuously removed. Accordingly, there was a complaint regarding illegal occupation of ‘Kabristan’ land.”

He added that a notice was issued by the Tehsildar court which ordered removal of illegal encroachments.

“An appeal was filed against this at the court of the District Magistrate. During the hearing, it was found that the mosque was built on a public land and is illegal. Therefore, it needed to be demolished.”

DM Khandelwal also said: “As part of this process, we are conducting demolition proceedings today. We also conducted an inspection and found some posters. One of them had ‘I Love Mohammad’ written on it. Some flags have also been found. Further investigation is being carried out.”

Superintendent of Police Krishna Kumar Bishnoi echoed that the police have found ‘I love Muhammed’ posters and certain flags at the site.

“We will see whether these flags represent any country or religion and will also conduct an inquiry about the people involved in printing these and will take appropriate action,” he told reporters.

He added that personnel from four police stations have been deployed at the site for security purposes.

Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Nidhi Patel said that a fine of Rs 1,12,800 has been imposed on the manager of the mosque.

“The manager of the mosque did appear before the Tehsildar but did not have any objection to the demolition. Since he was the one who appeared in the case, the fine has been imposed against him,” she told IANS.

Meanwhile, a local resident alleged that their side was not adequately heard in the court.

“We received a one-sided order, and they took action against our mosque based on that. The order was passed without hearing us at all, not even a single point of our side was heard. We had received a date for hearing on the matter yesterday, and the order was pronounced on the same day,” she said.

–IANS

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