15 unregistered madrassas sealed in Dehradun district

Dehradun: Fifteen madrassas in Dehradun district have been sealed following a district administration's order to launch a crackdown on the madrasas running without registration with the board, officials said.

District Magistrate Savin Bansal told PTI the sealed madrassas in the district were not registered with the Uttarakhand Madrasa Board and their maps were also not approved by the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority.

He said the district administration passed the order to seal them and the order was executed by the authorities concerned.

There are around 60 such madrassas in the district, Bansal said. The verification drive began on Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami's order in January ahead of the civic body polls following reports some madrasas lacked affiliation to the board, their source of funding was "dubious" and students from outside the state were also enrolled there.

The Muslim Seva Sangathan protested at the collectorate on Tuesday against the sealing action and at the MDDA office on Wednesday.

Muslim Seva Sangathan president Naeem Qureshi said the sealing was illegal as no prior notice was given to the madrassa managers.