UP: Authorities take action against illegal madrasas, mosques in four districts

Lucknow: The UP administration on Monday took action against over 20 allegedly illegal madrasas, mosques and other religious structures in four districts, according to an official statement.

In Shravasti, the authorities took action against 12 unrecognised madrasas and sealed them for lacking valid documents, Ajay Kumar Dwivedi, district magistrate, said.

Till now, action has been taken against 32 such madrasas.  A mosque located in Bhartha Roshangarh village, Bhinga tehsil, partially built on government land, was also demolished as part of the drive.

In Maharajganj, District Magistrate Anunay Jha said that an illegal structure, intended to develop into a 'mazar', located near the India-Nepal border, was removed in the presence of the village head.  Additionally, an illegal madrasa built on pond land in Ramnagar village, under Thuthibari police station, was also demolished.

In Lakhimpur Kheri district too, a temporary mosque structure in Krishnanagar Colony was removed, and action is being taken to evict the illegal Idgah built 80 years ago in village Chandan Chowki,  Magistrate Durga Shakti Nagpal said.

In Bahraich, too, action was taken against seven illegal madrasas. Two illegal structures were also demolished, adding to the 89 encroachments removed over the past four days — freeing 91 sites in total, according to Bahraich District Magistrate Monica Rani.  Additionally, illegal constructions were demolished in Shravasti and Siddharthnagar, according to the statement.