A digger (bulldozer) demolishes the mosque inside the Saharanpur collectorate (ANI screengrab/AI-enhanced)A mosque within the collectorate office campus in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur that was declared illegal was demolished on Saturday morning. A large police force was deployed during the operation.The administrative action follows a September 4 ruling by the District Judge’s court, which dismissed an appeal by the mosque management committee and upheld an earlier decision which held that the religious structure was encroachment on government property. The City Magistrate had declared the mosque illegal in July and issued an order for its demolition.Abhishek Singh, Saharanpur DIG, said, “There was a mosque here at the Saharanpur Collectorate. The court of the city magistrate found it to be illegally constructed on government land. The appeal [against the demolition] of the Mosque Committee was cancelled.”“We have taken all preventive steps to maintain law and order. We are following all legal procedures in taking this action.”Ahead of the demolition, Samajwadi Party Lok Sabha MP Iqra Hasan was allegedly placed under house arrest at her residence in Kairana to prevent her from traveling to Saharanpur, reported news agency ANI.#WATCH | DIG Saharanpur Abhishek Singh says, “There was a mosque here at Saharanpur Collectorate. Court of City Magistrate found it to be illegally built on the Govt land. The appeal of the Mosque Committee was cancelled. The illegal construction is now being demolished…”On… https://t.co/XDR1xnqOPB pic.twitter.com/gA1BARZiHM— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) September 5, 2026To stem potential unrest, a large contingent of police personnel was stationed outside MP Iqra Hasan’s residence overnight.“A large police force was deployed at my Kairana residence overnight, and I was placed under house arrest to prevent me from going to Saharanpur. I intended to visit Saharanpur to meet officials regarding the Collectorate mosque issue and to voice the concerns of the people of my constituency, but I was not even allowed to leave my home,” Hasan was quoted as saying by ANI.Speaking to news agency PTI, Samajwadi Party spokesperson Dharmendra Kumar Singh said, “This is a government that, from the very first day, wants to run away from basic questions and create a narrative of this kind. There is a system in the Indian judiciary and the Constitution of India. The opportunity for justice extends through all the courts, up to the Supreme Court. And once the Supreme Court gives a judgment, it is final. So, what needs to be seen is whether they were given an opportunity to appeal. Everywhere, after an order is passed, there is a period for filing an appeal, one month or some other stipulated period. They have as many days as are allowed to file an appeal and, if there has been an error in the higher court’s order, get it corrected by the court above it. But this government continuously gets orders from the courts and immediately takes action in such a way that it creates hatred in society.”Story continues below this adThe mosque was declared an “unauthorised structure” in July, and the city magistrate had ordered eviction in 30 days. The court had also penalised the the “illegal occupants” Rs 6.41 crore for the ‘unauthorised occupation’ of the 315-square-metre parcel of government land.The order was passed under the Uttar Pradesh Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1972.Mutwali Tanveer Ahmed, from the masjid committee had claimed the mosque is 150 years old.Earlier, City Magistrate, Saharanpur, Kuldeep Singh had told The Indian Express that proceedings were initiated after the Revenue Department conducted an inquiry into a complaint filed by one Vikas Tyagi, who alleged the mosque had been constructed on government land within the Collectorate campus.Story continues below this adIn March 2025, a revenue official (Lekhpal) lodged a complaint against Abdul Hamid, the alleged manager and maulvi of the mosque, alleging unauthorised occupation of government property.Notices were issued to the respondents in April 2025 and objections were filed on June 11 of that year.