Authorities in Uttar Pradesh’s Fatehpur district on Tuesday demolished a portion of a 180-year-old mosque, alleging that it was obstructing the widening of a highway, The Hindu reported.

The structure was bulldozed even though the mosque committee of the Noori Jama Masjid had approached the High Court against the demolition.

The district administration cited satellite and historical images to claim that the demolished portion had been constructed in the past two to three years, PTI reported. The main building of the mosque was said to be intact.

In August, the district administration issued a notice to the Noori Jama Masjid, claiming that a portion of it encroached onto the Banda-Bahraich state highway. However, the management committee of the mosque moved the Allahabad High Court seeking relief earlier this month.

“The committee has filed some petition in high court but it is yet to be listed for hearing,” said Additional District Magistrate (Finance and Revenue) Avinash Tripathi.

Notices were issued to 139 persons, including shopkeepers, house owners and the mosque committee, by the Public Works Department in August to remove the structures that were encroaching onto the road, according to Tripathi.

The department cited the strengthening of the road and the construction of drains as reasons for the removal.

“The Public Works Department had marked the encroached section of all the buildings,” the additional district magistrate was quoted as saying by The Indian Express. “All those served notices removed the encroachment in September. The mosque committee also demolished the encroached parts of the shops built adjacent to the mosque.”

He added that the committee assured that it would remove the portion of the mosque that was encroaching onto the road. “But they did not do it,” Tripathi said, according to The Hindu.

On Tuesday, police personnel, including personnel from the Rapid Action Force, were deployed at the site during the anti-encroachment drive. However, no protests took place during the demolition, the additional district magistrate said.

The Congress, however, accused the Chief Minister Adityanath-led government in the state of selectively targeting Muslim religious structures.

“If a structure is 180-year-old, mechanism should be there to protect them,” Congress leader Shahnawaz Alam was quoted as saying by The Hindu. “But when the intention is to selectively target a particular community aimed at humiliating them, then such incident happens. Such activities show that institutions of the state apparatus are not with the Muslim community.”