DEHRADUN: Following recent directions from the CM’s office to carry out verification of ‘illegal madrassas’ in Uttarakhand, state police headquarters (PHQ) has written to all the district police units to identify them for further action.
Sources at PHQ told TOI that a letter was sent about a week ago to all SSPs and SPs of the 13 districts. In the first phase of the verification drive, local intelligence units (LIUs) of the district police will collect inputs to identify the madrassas, and track down their funding. Next, a list will be compiled within a month by each district and then shared with the PHQ for “further action by the minority affairs department.”
As per the state madrassa board, there are around 415 registered madrassas in Uttarakhand, in which around 50,000 students are enrolled.
Additional director general of police (administration) AP Anshuman told TOI: “As per govt’s directions, we are taking appropriate steps in the matter. There has been communication with district police units in this regard.”
Police had earlier initiated a ‘detailed probe’ of all the madrassas in the state with the objective of focussing on three main areas – their registration, source of funding and the details of students from other states studying in the institutions.
This had come about after CM Pushkar Dhami’s directive on ‘keeping a check on madrassa activities in the state’.