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 illegal and obstructing the widening of the Banda-Bahraich Highway.

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

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 20 metres 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 told PTI on Tuesday.

In response to a question, he said, "Law and order remains strong. All shops within a radius of about 200 metres around the mosque have been closed and an area of 300 metres radius has been sealed." Lalauli town virtually turned into a police cantonment during the demolition exercise due to a heavy deployment of security personnel. The precautionary step comes in the backdrop of incidents of communal tension and opposition to demolition action by authorities in the state.

Rai said police and Rapid Action Force personnel have been deployed in every nook and corner of Lalauli town to maintain law and order.

He said that the PWD had given a notice to the Masjid Management Committee on August 17, 2024, to remove some part of the mosque, but it did not implement it themselves.

Mutawalli (chief) of Noori Masjid Management Committee Mohammad Moin Khan alias Bablu Khan said that his advocate Syed Azimuddin has filed a writ petition in the Allahabad High Court against demolishing any part of the mosque and the plea is to be heard on December 12.

"The Noorie Mosque of Lalauli was built in 1839 and the road here was constructed in 1956, yet the Public Works Department is calling some parts of the mosque illegal," he said.

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