'Leaked' intel report wrong: photos show Durga Nagpal at mosque wall demolition

A leaked local intelligence report that claims IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal was not present in Kadalpur village on the day that a wall of an under-construction mosque, that did not have legal sanction, was demolished, has been shown to be erroneous by photos accessed by Firstpost .

Residents of Kadalpur, when confronted by news reports of the leaked local intelligence report that claims that it had been sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Bachchu Singh and not Nagpal who had visited Kadalpur to stop the illegal construction of the mosque, showed Firstpost photos that show Nagpal in Kadalpur village accompanied by senior police officers on the day she was suspended by the Samajwadi Party government.

The intelligence report has also been rejected by Bachchu Singh who has since denied having gone to Kadalpur village. Singh is quoted by Hindustan Times as saying : “Kadalpur village does not come in Jewar division’s jurisdiction. It comes under Greater Noida’s Sadar division. I do not know where Kadalpur is located in Gautam Budh Nagar district. The LIU (local intelligence unit) has made a huge error.”

Angered by reports that accuse them of lying, residents of Kadalpur village questioned the media’s refusal to tell their side of the story.

Responding to the local intelligence report, Chaman Khan, a resident of the village who runs a school, said, “We have proof that Nagpal was here. The police force was here. The circle officer (DSP) of Jewar was present…Bachchu Singh is the SDM of Jewar and our village falls under Sadar tehsil. This matter does not concern him .”

When asked how many politicians had come to the village since the demolition, Khan said, “Politicians want to politicise the issue. But we don’t want the issue of the mosque to become a political one. Our only wish is that our mosque be built. We have submitted our application for permission to construct it to the district administration. We are awaiting their approval.”

Wasil, a resident of a neighbouring village Anwar Garh, who was present in Kadalpur village on 27 July, said the wall of the under-construction mosque was broken down by four people. “Two police officers and two people from the village, under pressure from the police, broke down the wall. After the wall was broken, Nagpal left,” he said.

Local congress leader Dhirendra Singh Thakur who was among the first to reach Kadalpur village following the demolition of the wall says confusion over Kadalpur’s jurisdiction could have caused the error in the local intelligence report.

“The local intelligence has made a mistake. It was Durga Shakti Nagpal and not some other SDM who went to the village. This misunderstanding has happened because the police jurisdiction of Kadalpur village falls under Jewar (thus leading the local intelligence to assume the SDM to be of Jewar) but its revenue administration falls under tehsil Sadar. That has created the confusion.”

Questioning the role of the Samajwadi Party in the whole controversy, Singh asks why SP MLA Narendra Bhati was not questioned when he inaugurated and donated Rs 51,000 for the construction of a mosque when there was no permission.“The foundation stone was laid by Bhati, who has a minister-rank post in the government, on 15 June. And Durga Shakti Nagpal reached the village on 27 July. In the intervening one-and-a-half months, the government should have either granted permission for the construction of the mosque or made the residents aware that the construction was illegal.”

Responding to news reports of the Waqf Board claiming that the land mafia had a hand in Nagpal’s removal, Dhirendra Singh said, “It has come to my knowledge that in Dankaur, land belonging to a graveyard has been bought by the land mafia. Since such land cannot be sold or bought, an inquiry was going on by Durga Shakti Nagpal. So it is possible that the land mafia could also have had a role.”

Cautioning the people of Kadalpur from being exploited for political gain, Dhirendra Singh says, “Political parties are using people of Kadalpur village for their own political ends and therefore it is necessary that the people of Kadalpur remain vigilant. They are hurt because their mosque was demolished. But political parties are trying to brainwash them by giving it a communal slant. The goal of the residents should be to build the mosque with proper legal sanction. And with that, this matter ends.”

The IAS officer, who had taken on the district’s politically well-connected sand mafia head on, was ostensibly suspended by Akhilesh Singh government for demolition of an under-construction mosque, which was not legally sanctioned, on the grounds that it threatened communal harmony.