Sambhal, April 17 A large-scale demolition drive was carried out in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal district on Friday, where the district administration used bulldozers and heavy machinery to remove alleged illegal constructions in Mubarakpur Band village under the Asmoli police station area.
Senior officials, including District Magistrate (DM) Rajender Pensiya and the Superintendent of Police Krishan Kumar Bishnoi, were present at the site along with heavy police deployment and Rapid Response Force (RRF) personnel to maintain law and order during the operation.
According to officials, the action was initiated following a complaint filed by the village head nearly three months ago regarding unauthorised structures.
"After due hearing, a 30-day period was given for appeal. The local people had initially assured that they would demolish the structures themselves, but when that did not happen, the administration had to step in," the Sambhal DM said.
During the drive, rooms of a madrasa and several nearby shops were demolished.
Officials said the mosque structure had not been touched initially, but preparations were underway for further action.
Later, two hydraulic machines were deployed to demolish a 35-40-foot-high minaret of the mosque, and the operation took around three hours to complete.
As a precautionary measure, nearby houses were evacuated before the demolition began.
Tension briefly escalated during the demolition of shops when iron rods from a lintel came into contact with overhead electricity wires, causing sparks.
The operation was immediately halted to prevent any mishap.
Naib Tehsildar Arvind Kumar contacted the electricity department and ensured that the power supply was temporarily shut down.
Naib Tehsildar Bablu Kumar said that prior intimation had been given to the electricity department, and timely action helped avert a major accident.
"The removal of madrasa rooms and shops is underway, and further action on the mosque will also be carried out as per procedure," he added.
The administration has said that the drive is part of an ongoing anti-encroachment drive to remove encroachments from government land, while affected residents continue to seek compensation and relief.
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