Police have lodged an FIR against "a few persons" for performing religious rituals on the Adina Mosque premises in the Gazole area of Malda district.

Sources said the complaint came from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the custodian of the premises.

Eyewitnesses and police sources said a man from another state had, in the presence of some local people, performed certain religious rituals on the premises on Saturday afternoon. They said there did not seem to be any organised effort behind the incident.

"Acting on the complaint received from the end of the ASI, police lodged a complaint formally," an administrative official said, asking not to be identified.

The police declined comment. Police sources, however, said the force was keeping an eye on the premises to prevent any instigation.

Sources said a report on the incident had been sent to the state’s administrative and police headquarters.

An eyewitness said a man from some other state who was visiting Malda had heard about the Adina Mosque and gone there to offer prayers. He was asked to leave by a policeman.

ASI officials could not be contacted. Sources said that no rituals are allowed at ASI-protected sites.

The BJP and Trinamul reacted with caution.

"I am in New Delhi to attend the party's national convention. I don’t know exactly what happened in Adina,” BJP Malda North district president Ujjwal Dutta said. “We want the police and administration to handle the situation and let harmony prevail.”

Abdur Rahim Boxi, Trinamul MLA and the party's Malda unit president, said: "The police and the (civil) administration will maintain harmony between the religious communities; we are sure about that."