BAREILLY — Authorities on Saturday launched a bulldozer drive targeting properties linked to Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan, who was arrested along with his aids, for supporting the ‘I Love Muhammad’ campaign that allegedly sparked clashes in Bareilly last week.
The Bareilly Municipal Corporation, along with the Bareilly Development Authority, initiated the demolition drive amid heavy police deployment.
Bulldozers rolled into Raza Palace, reportedly associated with Dr Nafees, a close confidant of Maulana Tauqeer, triggering panic in the area.
Officials said the action was directed at removing “permanent encroachments.”
A signboard at Raza Palace identified the property as the residence of Shoyeb Beg, son of the late Athar Hussain Beg, a former PCS officer. The corporation also undertook a separate drive in the tourist area, demolishing shops built over drains.
Municipal Commissioner Sanjeev Kumar Maurya, however, maintained that the drive was routine. “The permanent encroachments are being removed. This is a normal campaign carried out at regular intervals. It is not linked to last Friday’s violence,” he told IANS.
To prevent unrest, senior officials, accompanied by a large police contingent, held a flag march in the affected areas, appealing to locals to maintain peace.
Earlier in the day, a delegation of SP leaders, including MPs Iqra Hasan and Mohibbullah Nadvi, had planned to visit Bareilly on Saturday to meet those affected by the violence.
The team left from the residence of Rajya Sabha MP Harendra Singh Malik but was stopped on the way by a heavy police deployment.
The Samajwadi Party accused the administration of targeting its leaders.
Neeraj Maurya, SP MP from Amla, was placed under house arrest along with other local leaders.
Speaking to IANS, Maurya said, “We have not been told why we are being confined. I wanted to meet people and raise their grievances with the authorities so that no innocent person is harassed. The administration’s action is unlawful — this is the murder of democracy.”
The political row follows tensions in Bareilly over the ‘I Love Muhammad’ slogan, which sparked clashes last week.
Ziaur Rahman Barq, who was also part of the delegation, strongly criticised the police for blocking their visit, calling it undemocratic and unjustified.
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“When the police administration and the government in Bareilly are saying that everything there is normal and there is no problem, then what sense does preventing us from going there make? We strongly oppose this and want to go there to meet the victim families and prepare an accurate report that can help them obtain justice,” Barq said. — With inputs from IANS
