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Sambhal: Authorities in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district demolished a 35-foot-high minaret of a mosque at around 1:30 pm on Friday, April 17, using bulldozers and JCBs.

To bring the minaret down, a worker secured a rope to the structure, which was then pulled down by the machinery. Earlier that morning, five shops outside the mosque area were destroyed.

This comes a day after authorities were seen demolishing an Eidgah and an Imambara in the district.

Meanwhile, in Sambhal’s Mubarakpur Band village, a mosque and a madrassa built on government land, which was officially recorded as a playground and a site for compost pits, were removed on the same day.

The bulldozer operation was carried out in the presence of District Magistrate Rajendra Pensiya and Superintendent of Police Krishan Kumar, PTI reported.

Naib tehsildar Bablu Kumar said this is classified government land and the plots are officially recorded as a playground and site for compost pits.

Initially, the villagers were asked to remove the mosque and the madrassa themselves. However, as they were unable to dismantle the entire structures on their own, they requested the administration to carry out the removal.

Consequently, the illegal encroachment was cleared using bulldozers and JCBs.

“We are currently in the process of establishing a land bank. We are clearing all encroachments across the district,” the naib tehsildar said.

SP Kumar said in compliance with the directives issued by the administration to establish a ‘land bank’ in every village in Sambhal district, a comprehensive list has been compiled over the past six months.

This list was prepared following a detailed survey conducted in every village under the joint supervision of the district magistrate and carried out under police protection and in coordination with the lekhpals.

All instances of encroachment on government land across every village have been duly listed, and the process to demolish these illegal structures and reclaim the land is currently underway, Kumar said.

Over the last six months, approximately 125 hectares of land have been successfully reclaimed. Furthermore, this land has been subsequently allotted for various government schemes.

Similar encroachments on government land in all other villages are also slated to be cleared, the SP said.

(With PTI inputs)