Dargah vandalised at Wynberg-Allen School premises in Mussoorie, weeks after viral video questioned its legality

According to a police complaint filed by a Mussoorie resident, around 25-30 people entered the shrine on Saturday and vandalised it. (ANI)

While the school responded saying the shrine, visited by people of all faiths, has been in the area for at least 30 years, the committee that manages the Dargah of Baba Bulle Shah said that it is more than 100 years old. The department had sought records from the Nagar Palika.

The DFO of Mussoorie, Amit Kanwar, had then said documents regarding the construction of the shrine would be sought from all the stakeholders before deliberating whether any action was required.

In a video on January 23, Hindu Raksha Dal’s Uttarakhand wing president, Lalit Sharma, said that if action is not taken by the administration by Tuesday, they would destroy the shrine themselves. “This is Devbhoomi, and Bulle Shah has no place here. It does not matter if it is private property; our concern is for Sanatan. We will go any time on Tuesday to demolish it. We are asking the administration and the school to remove the structure…,” he said.

However, according to a police complaint filed by a Mussoorie resident, around 25-30 people entered the shrine on Saturday and vandalised it.

Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered under BNS sections 196(1)(b) (acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different groups) and 298 (injuring or defiling a place of worship, with intent to insult the religion of any class).

A video of the incident has also gone viral on social media. The FIR named three people allegedly involved in the incident by identifying them in the video.

The complainant, Akram Khan, said the shrine was more than 100 years old. “Lalit Sharma had shared a video on Facebook, but the law enforcement agencies did not take it seriously. It is their failure that such an incident could not be averted…”

School authorities declined to comment on the matter.