By Sanjay Pandey
Lucknow: Officials in Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar district, about 325 kilometres from here, conducted a survey of the Madni Mosque in Hata area after complaints by the saffron outfits that it had been constructed after encroaching on the government land.
According to the reports, the survey was conducted on Wednesday in the presence of a large contingent of security personnel and senior district officials.
The officials, who also included a team from the revenue department, conducted measurements of the land on which the mosque was situated. The results of the survey were not yet made public.
Sub-divisional magistrate Prabhakar Singh said that the survey was conducted after complaints of encroachment of government land. ‘’Any future action will depend on the results of the survey,’’ he said.
Saffron activist Ram Bachan Singh had complained on the chief minister’s portal that the Madni Masjid was built after encroaching the government land and had demanded a survey of the same.
The caretaker of the mosque said that the Muslim community had purchased 32 decimal land around 15 years back for the purpose of constructing the mosque. He also claimed that there was no encroachment and that the mosque stood on 30 decimal land.
The officials said that the mosque had been there for the past ten years and that the Muslims had been offering prayers there regularly.
They, however, said that a portion of the mosque appeared to be on the encroached land. ‘’Appropriate action will be taken if it is found that the mosque has been built after encroaching the government land,’’ said an official.
Four persons were killed and scores others injured during a court mandated survey of a famous mosque in UP’s Sambhal town a few days back after hundreds of Muslims came out on the streets and protested against the survey and indulged in heavy stone pelting besides torching vehicles.
This story was originally published in deccanherald.com.
