Mosque in UP’s Saharanpur declared ‘illegal’, bulldozed

A mosque in the Collectorate office campus in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur that was declared illegal was demolished on Saturday morning. A large police force was deployed during the operation. The administrative action follows a September 2 ruling by a local court, which dismissed an appeal by the mosque management committee against the City Magistrate's July order declaring the masjid unauthorised and ordering its eviction.

Tanveer Ahmed, Mutwali (custodian) of the mosque, alleged that the action was carried out without due process. "The City Magistrate had passed an eviction (Bedakhli) order in July, directing that the premises be vacated within 30 days.

We challenged the order before the Court of the District Judge, which dismissed our petition on September 2. There was no order for demolition, yet the structure was demolished today," he said, adding that the mosque is approximately 150 years old.

Abhishek Singh, Saharanpur DIG, said, "There was a mosque here at the Saharanpur Collectorate. The court of the city magistrate found it to be illegally constructed on government land. The appeal [against the demolition] of the Mosque Committee was cancelled." "We have taken all preventive steps to maintain law and order.

We are following all legal procedures in taking this action." Ahead of the demolition, Samajwadi Party Lok Sabha MP Iqra Hasan was allegedly placed under house arrest at her residence in Kairana to prevent her from traveling to Saharanpur, reported news agency ANI.

#WATCH | DIG Saharanpur Abhishek Singh says, "There was a mosque here at Saharanpur Collectorate. Court of City Magistrate found it to be illegally built on the Govt land. The appeal of the Mosque Committee was cancelled.

The illegal construction is now being demolished…" — ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) September 5, 2026 To stem potential unrest, a large contingent of police personnel was stationed outside her home overnight. "A large police force was deployed at my Kairana residence overnight, and I was placed under house arrest to prevent me from going to Saharanpur.

I intended to visit Saharanpur to meet officials regarding the Collectorate mosque issue and to voice the concerns of the people of my constituency, but I was not even allowed to leave my home," Hasan was quoted as saying by ANI.

The mosque was declared an "unauthorised structure" in July, and the city magistrate had ordered eviction in 30 days. The court had also penalised the the "illegal occupants" Rs 6.41 crore for the ‘unauthorised occupation’ of the 315-square-metre parcel of government land.

The order was passed under the Uttar Pradesh Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1972. Earlier, City Magistrate, Saharanpur, Kuldeep Singh had told The Indian Express that proceedings were initiated after the Revenue Department conducted an inquiry into a complaint filed by one Vikas Tyagi, who alleged the mosque had been constructed on government land within the Collectorate campus.

In March 2025, a revenue official (Lekhpal) lodged a complaint against Abdul Hamid, the alleged manager and maulvi of the mosque, alleging unauthorised occupation of government property. Notices were issued to the respondents in April 2025 and objections were filed on June 11 of that year.

On Saturday, Singh said a Sub-Divisional Magistrate had been appointed for the recovery of the fine, adding that demolition of the structure commenced this morning. The Opposition slammed the move and hit out at the ruling BJP government.

Congress MP from Saharanpur Imran Masood alleged that authorities surrounded people from all sides, confined them inside their homes, and demolished the mosque. He said: "Today is a 'black day' for the people of Saharanpur."