Forest land encroachment: Bail plea of late Sufi saint's widow rejected

Muzaffarnagar (UP): A local court has rejected the anticipatory bail plea of the widow of late Sufi saint Khushal Miyan in connection with the encroachment of forest land case.

District judge Rajiv Sharma on Wednesday rejected the bail plea filed by Nazia. A case was registered against three people associated with a shrine dedicated to the late Sufi saint for allegedly occupying a forest land illegally in Muzaffarnagar district in Uttar Pradesh, police said.

The case was registered against Nazia, her son-in-law and another person at the Bhopa Police Station on November 19. According to police, the religious complex at Biharigarh village was built in a reserved forest area and was declared illegal by the forest department. Apart from a mosque and a shrine dedicated to the Sufi saint, the complex houses a chillahgah and the residence of the saint''s family.

The land was given on lease which expired in 2016. The forest department then issued a notice to the family living in the complex asking them to vacate but they refused, officials said. The administration had demolished illegal structures around the mosque and the shrine last month. According to the FIR registered in the case, people associated with the shrine had illegally occupied the forest land.