On July 22, Indian Railways issued notices to Takia Babbar Shah mosque and Bengali Market mosques in Delhi and asked them to vacate the encroached railways land. The administration of both mosques has been given 15 days time to clear out the encroachment, according to the notice, else, the railways will remove the same itself.
The Northern Railways Administration published the notice which read, “Railways property has been illegally invaded upon. You must voluntarily dismantle any unlicensed structures, including temples, mosques or shrines within 15 days of receiving this alert or the railways administration will take legal action.”
It further added, “Encroachments that are not permitted will be removed in compliance with the Railways Act. Any damages incurred throughout the procedure will be your responsibility. The Railways administration won’t be held accountable.”
Earlier action on illegal construction at Bengali Market Masjid
A portion of the mosque in the Bengali market was demolished in a joint anti-encroachment action by the Land and Development Office (L&DO), New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) in April of this year.
The demolition took place early morning wherein one of the boundary walls was removed. Officials said that an illegal structure made out of concrete was raised a few months back on the encroached portion. However, the mosque officials alleged that no prior notice was sent to them before taking up the exercise.
Hanuman Mandir and Dargah demolished in Delhi earlier in July
On Sunday, 2nd July 2023, the Delhi administration demolished two religious places on the footpath in the Bhajanpura area to widen a road. Public Works Department (PWD) initiated the anti-encroachment drive in the Bhajanpura area of North East Delhi. The purpose of this operation was to remove a Hanuman temple and a dargah.
To ensure the smooth execution of the drive and handle any potential disturbances, Delhi Police personnel were heavily deployed, along with the presence of central forces. Additionally, the entire area was carefully monitored using drone cameras.
