Hyderabad: Tension arose in Moinabad on Monday after a centuries-old mosque in Chilkur village, Ranga Reddy district, was demolished. The Moinabad police have registered a case following the incident.
Local Muslims discovered the demolition and alerted the villagers. Several officials, including AIMIM MLC Mirza Rahmath Baig, TGMREIS chairman Faheem Qureshi, TG Wakf Board chairman Azmathullah Hussaini, principal secretary for minorities welfare Tafseer Iqbal, and MBT leader Amjedullah Khan visited the site late on Monday. The Wakf Board officials also approached the police to report the incident.
The complaint states that the mosque, known as Jagirdar Masjid, is located in survey numbers 133 and 134 of Chilkur village and covers an area of four guntas. This mosque belongs to the Telangana State Wakf Board.
According to the complaint, the mosque has been a place for occasional prayers by local Muslims. The Wakf Board had conducted a survey and documented the mosque in their records. The masjid was surrounded by dense trees. Prasad, who owns some land in the same survey numbers, had been cleaning the area for several days.
On Monday afternoon, Mohammad Ahmed of Chilkur noticed that the mosque was no longer there while passing by. He informed the villagers who then rushed to the spot around 2 pm. They found that Prasad and his associates had leveled the mosque to the ground.
The complainant alleged that according to Dharani records, the land in the survey numbers belongs to YSK Poruru LLP and Neena Reddy. The demolition seems to have been done to incite enmity between communities.
Ch. Srinivas, DCP-Rajendranagar, stated that a JCB and its driver present at the spot were taken into custody for questioning. An investigation is ongoing to identify those involved, and action will be taken against them.
On Tuesday, the Wakf Board began work to reconstruct the mosque. A temporary shed is being erected at the site where the mosque stood, and prayers were held there.
A heavy police force has been deployed in the area to maintain order.
