The Yogi Adityanath government has decided to establish a new centre of the Anti-Terrorist Squad in Saharanpur district’s Deoband town, which is home to a Sunni seminary established a century and a half ago.

“Listen to the news amid the barbarism of Taliban, Yogiji has decided to open an ATS Commando Centre in Deoband with immediate effect. About one-and-a-half dozen selected ATS officers from across the state would be posted there,” Shalabh Mani Tripathi, an adviser of the state information and publicity department, tweeted on Tuesday.

The decision comes months ahead of the Assembly elections.

When contacted, a senior member of the 155-year-old Darul Uloom Deoband told The Telegraph: “We have decided not to speak on this issue. We are a reputable university, which doesn’t want to know which office is opening in our town and why.”

“There are more intelligence department offices in a small town like Deoband than in Lucknow, the state capital. It is very good for us. We feel secure. We would love to ask the government to open more such offices here so that we can focus on academics while feeling secure,” he added.

Although the Darul Uloom Deoband has in the past condemned the Taliban and organised meetings against terrorism, a section of Sangh parivar leaders keep alleging during elections that the seminary is pro-Taliban.

An information department officer was quoted as saying to reporters: “About 2,000sqm land has already been earmarked for the ATS office and work will start soon. It is a project close to the heart of Maharajji.”

Chief minister Adityanath is called Maharajji by his supporters.