Rajkot: The trustees of the mosque tried to illegally take possession of three shops of Hindus located next to the Nawab Mosque in the Danapith area of the city. The trustee of the mosque threw out the goods of one shop in the name of the Waqf Board order, while the managers of the other two shops were forced to hand over possession.

राजकोट मे वक्फ बोर्ड ने तीन हिंदुओं की दुकान को अपना बताकर रात में दुकान का ताला तोड़कर सामान बाहर फेंक कर दुकान अपने कब्जे में ले लिया

वक्फ बोर्ड की ये कैसी गुंडागर्दी है ??

@Bhupendrapbjp @CMOGuj @dgpgujarat @sanghaviharsh

बहुत विश्वास के साथ कर रहा हूं उत्तर प्रदेश में… pic.twitter.com/0QYjVnj5lZ

— 🇮🇳Jitendra pratap singh🇮🇳 (@jpsin1) January 1, 2025

Virendrabhai Kalyanjibhai Kotecha (aged 72), who lives in Kiran Society on Race Course Ring Road is engaged in the business of mandap service in Danapith. He said in a complaint at the ‘A’ Division Police Station that he has a mandap service shop next to the Nawab Mosque and his father had rented this shop from the Nawab Mosque Trust  years ago. On the 31st evening, while he was sitting on the porch outside his nephew Kanaiyalal Kotecha’s shop in Danapith, five people started breaking the lock of his and Hasmukhbhai Mehta’s shop and threw the shop’s goods out.

Kotecha further said – when he approached the people who were doing this, a person named Farooq Musani identified himself as the trustee of the Nawab Masjid and had an order from the Waqf Board to vacate the shop. Another tenant, Abhishekbhai Thakkar, also reached there and he and Hasmukhbhai opened the locks of the shop. The police took everyone to the police station.

DCP Jagdish Bangarwa said that the Waqf Board had ordered to take possession of the shop from the tenant. According to the Waqf Board order, if the tenant shopkeepers do not vacate the shop despite giving notice three times, the trustees have to inform the Waqf Board about this. After that, possession was handed over to them as per the rules under police protection, but in this case, instead of following the rules, Farooq Musani took the law into his own hands and legal action was taken against him and others.

The Gujarat State Waqf Board cited 15 years of unpaid rent and electricity bills as grounds for immediate possession. Speaking about the incident, Farooq Musani, who was involved in the eviction, stated, “After receiving the Gujarat Waqf Board’s order, we took possession of the shops. The shops have been closed for years and are in an extremely dilapidated condition, causing damage to the mosque. We acted in compliance with the order given to us.” DeshGujarat