UP: Dargah probe to investigate Waqf property claims in Sambhal

Sambhal: The district administration has ordered a probe into alleged financial irregularities related to a dargah here and encroachment of land, officials said on Saturday.

Officials said the probe will focus not just on the financial irregularities, but also whether the land on which the dargah stands was Waqf property as claimed.

According to the complainant, the dargah of Dada Mouazmiya Shah which stood on Waqf land at Janeta village panchayat of the Baniyakheda development block in Chandausi was being illegally occupied by one one Shahid Mian.

He was also operating an unauthorized medical clinic on the encroached land, the complainant Javed said.

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The Waqf land has been without a ‘mutawalli’ (caretaker) since 2019 and remains vacant but Shahid allegedly was earning a “substantial income from the annual Urs festival held at the dargah, the complaint said.

Chandausi Tehsildar Dhirendra Pratap Singh said the property is not registered as Waqf land in the revenue records and the ongoing investigation will now focus on the financial transactions related to the dargah since 2019.

Addressing reporters, Singh said they have received complaints about the dargah in Janeta before.

On the probe ordered by District Magistrate Rajender Pensiya, he added, “Shahid Mian has been asked to provide relevant documents, some of which he has already submitted. Further action will be determined following a thorough examination of these documents.”

The tehsildar said the property was not registered as Waqf land in revenue records. “This raises questions about the basis was it being claimed as Waqf land. That will be a key focus of the investigation,” he added.

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