Early on September 5, amid a police, PAC, and RAF deployment, bulldozers reduced an overcentury-old mosque in Saharanpur to a heap of rubble.

The Allahabad High Court has asked the Uttar Pradesh government to respond to a plea against the Saharanpur mosque demolition. It has meanwhile stayed recovery of the Rs 6.41 crore fine, keeping the dispute open over title and waqf status.