Notices to Centre, ASI over idols of Hindu deities 'buried' in Agra mosque

A group of petitioners in the Shahi Idgah Masjid-Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi dispute suit on Thursday sent legal notices to the Centre and the Archaeological Survey of India seeking relocation of idols of Hindu deities, which they claimed are buried under the staircase of an Agra mosque.

The notice said the movement of the public on the staircase be stopped immediately. The notices have been sent under Section 80 of the Code of Civil Procedure, under which parties are required to respond within 60 days.

The petitioners claimed that costly idols taken from the Mathura's Keshav Dev temple were buried under the staircase of the Agra's Begum Sahiba Masjid mosque by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb when he allegedly destroyed the temple here in 1670.

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"Relocate the deities within the stipulated time failing which they would be liable to bear the cost," said advocate Mahendra Pratap Singh, one of the petitioners.

The notices have been sent to the Union government through the central secretariat, New Delhi; Director, Archaeological survey of India, New Delhi; Superintendent, Archaeological survey of India; Agra; and the Director, Archaeological survey of India, Mathura.

Earlier, a Mathura court had refused to entertain a plea over the issue, asking the plaintiffs to sent legal notices to the respondents.