Hyderabad: A mosque in Chintalmet faced partial demolition over a land dispute in which a section of residents claimed the property belongs to a temple, with AIMIM leaders protesting at the site and Bahadurpura MLA Mohammed Mubeen being detained in the melee on Monday, October 12.
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen leaders (AIMIM), led by Mubeen, gathered outside Masjid-e-Mohammadia, where they demanded that the Endowment Department survey the land before any action being taken.
Revenue officials, accompanied by police and the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) personnel, reached the site in Rajendranagar mandal on Monday morning and reportedly began pulling down a disputed wall. One community claimed the wall belongs to the mosque and another to a temple, even as the row had been simmering in the locality for some days.
Police deployment in the area was stepped up to prevent any untoward incident.
Built on Waqf land: AIMIM
AIMIM corporator Mohammed Nawazuddin Ahmed told Siasat.com that the mosque came up about one-and-a-half years ago on land measuring 300 square yard.
“The boundaries were marked 1.5 years ago and now the Endowment Department wants to take it over,” he alleged.
The boundary dispute surfaced last week, Ahmed said, when JCB machines were stationed at the mosque to pull down a part of it. The demolition was halted after AIMIM leaders sought a survey of the land, he said.
The corporator claimed the land belonged to the Waqf Board and that the mosque had been built legally. He said the relevant documents had been submitted to Hyderabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar and the mandal revenue officer.
He accused the Endowment Department of working hand in glove with land grabbers to take over the property. He named two Chintalmet residents, Gujjar Ghouse and Nasingh, as the land grabbers.
“They made an issue out of this mosque,” he alleged.
MLA detained
According to Ahmed, Mubeen and his supporters were detained during the protest and shifted to the Ramgopalpet Police Station.
Videos circulating on social media showed the MLA arguing with officials who were preparing to carry out the demolition.
“You assured a joint survey. Tell me if that has been conducted. How can you take action without the joint survey? We have the necessary documents with us,” he was heard saying.
Another clip shows police detaining Ahmed as protesters raise slogans of “Police zulm band karo (stop police excesses).”
