An inquiry report submitted to the government has stated that a portion of the residence of Samajwadi Party MP Zia-ur-Rahman Barq, the alleged instigator of the Sambhal violence, was built without permission from the local authorities.
“It was built on government land and without the mandatory approval of the map from the local bodies,” an officer of the public works department told reporters in Sambhal on Thursday.
“We have received the report prepared by the department engineers and handed it to the local authorities. We have recommended demolishing parts of the constructed area,” the officer added.
A civil court of the sub-divisional magistrate is expected to decide on the demolition based on the report that was prepared two months after the building was surveyed in Deep Sarai of the town.
Zia-ur-Rahman said: “There is no violation of any rule and the government is trying to create a controversy out of nothing. The stairs of the under-construction house had already been demolished without any reason.”
Mamlook-ur-Rahman Barq, the father of the MP, said that the house was in the name of his elder brother Shafiq-ur-Rahman Barq, who was the MP of Sambhal. “My son Zia was elected after my brother’s death. The house was transferred to me after my brother passed away but the government is repeatedly issuing notices to Zia. This is happening because the intention of the government is to tarnish the image of my son.”
Sambhal district magistrate Rajendra Pensiya said they were surveying all the houses in the city and removing the encroachments. “It is not about just one house.”
The administration served a notice to the MP in December 2024 and asked him why he should not be fined or have his under-construction house demolished for building it without approval of the map.