185-yr-old Noori Masjid partially razed over ‘encroachment’

Amid tight security, a portion of the 185-year-old Noori Masjid in Uttar Pradesh’s Fatehpur district was demolished by local authorities on Tuesday claiming it was illegally constructed 2-3 years ago and was obstructing the widening of the Banda-Bahraich highway.

The mosque’s management committee chief, however, claimed the Noori Masjid in Lalauli town was built in 1839 while the road around it came up only in 1956. He said they have already moved the Allahabad High Court which will take up the plea on December 12.

The district administration claimed that the portion demolished was illegal and had come up in the last 2-3 years, citing satellite and historical images of the mosque’s site. The Public Works Department (PWD) had, in connection with the widening of Banda-Bahraich Highway No. 13, given a notice to remove some parts of the mosque due to their “illegal construction”, but the mosque management did not implement it, according to officials.

“About 20m of Noori Masjid, which was obstructing the widening of Banda-Bahraich Highway No. 13, was demolished by a bulldozer on Tuesday in the presence of officials and now its debris is being removed,” Lalauli police station in-charge Inspector Vrindavan Rai said.