Authorities in Bareilly launched a demolition drive on Saturday targeting properties linked to Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan, who was recently arrested along with his aides for supporting the ‘I Love Muhammad’ campaign. The campaign had reportedly led to clashes in the city last week.
The Bareilly Municipal Corporation and the Bareilly Development Authority carried out the demolition amid tight police security. Bulldozers reached Raza Palace, a property believed to be connected to Dr. Nafees, a close aide of Maulana Tauqeer, causing panic among residents. Officials claimed the operation was aimed at removing “permanent encroachments.”
A board outside Raza Palace listed it as the residence of Shoyeb Beg, son of the late Athar Hussain Beg, a former PCS officer. The civic authorities also demolished shops built over drains in the nearby tourist area.
Municipal Commissioner Sanjeev Kumar Maurya said the action was part of a routine anti-encroachment drive. “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 administrative and police officials conducted a flag march in the affected localities, urging residents to maintain calm.
Meanwhile, a Samajwadi Party (SP) delegation — including MPs Iqra Hasan and Mohibbullah Nadvi — was stopped by police while attempting to visit Bareilly to meet families affected by the recent clashes. The team had departed from the residence of Rajya Sabha MP Harendra Singh Malik but was halted midway due to heavy police deployment.
SP MP Neeraj Maurya from Amla was placed under house arrest along with several local leaders. “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,” Maurya said.
Ziaur Rahman Barq, another member of the delegation, criticised the government’s move as “undemocratic.” He said, “When the administration claims everything is normal in Bareilly, why are we being stopped from going there? We simply want to meet the victims and prepare an accurate report to help them get justice.”
The political tensions come a week after communal clashes broke out in Bareilly over the ‘I Love Muhammad’ slogan, with authorities now accused of using the incident to target opposition leaders and Muslim figures in the region.
