Additional personnel were deployed outside the mosque, patrols were intensified and surveillance was increased in the locality as a precaution against any disturbance. Police said they were also monitoring social media activity connected with the proposed programme.
Superintendent of Police Vinayak Gopal Bhosale said maintaining law and order was the priority and nobody would be permitted to take the law into their own hands. Police appealed to residents to remain peaceful and ignore rumours or unverified information circulating online.
The video featured Pinky Chaudhary, identified as the national president of a Hindu outfit, announcing that he planned to reach Meerut and recite the Hanuman Chalisa near the mosque on Tuesday. Another person, Lalit Sharma, was also associated with the video, according to accounts of the announcement.
Police moved to strengthen the security arrangements after the clip circulated widely, bringing renewed attention to an existing dispute over construction at the mosque. Officers maintained a visible presence around Kesarganj Mandi while stepping up patrols through the surrounding commercial area.
Zubair, the mosque’s mutawalli, or caretaker, approached the office of the Senior Superintendent of Police and submitted a complaint seeking action over the announcement. He also asked the authorities to ensure that peace and public order were maintained around the mosque.
The immediate dispute has its roots in construction work on the upper portion of the building. Police said work on the mosque’s upper floor had been stopped about a month earlier following objections from traders in the locality. The traders had complained that construction was being undertaken without the required permission.
Meerut Police had said earlier that the local station house officer visited the site and contacted people responsible for the mosque before work described as renovation on the third floor was stopped. Those involved were advised to approach the city administration over the matter.
The construction issue subsequently drew representations from traders and political figures. Meerut MP Arun Govil wrote to District Magistrate V K Singh this month after receiving a representation from the Meerut Merchant Association, Kesarganj Mandi. Govil sought an inquiry into allegations that work had proceeded without prior administrative permission and requested action in accordance with the law if violations were established.
Those allegations concern the legality of the construction and have not been treated by police as grounds for allowing any group to disturb public order. Authorities have instead focused on keeping the dispute within administrative and legal channels while preventing confrontations at the site.
Local traders have also expressed concern that the arrival of people from outside the area could disturb the atmosphere in the market. Their concerns added to the police decision to maintain an enhanced presence around the mosque after the video emerged.
Kesarganj Mandi is a busy trading locality, making crowd control and the uninterrupted functioning of the market an immediate consideration for the administration. Police precautions on Tuesday centred on the mosque and adjoining streets rather than any wider restrictions across Meerut.
The Hanuman Chalisa is a Hindu devotional hymn dedicated to Hanuman. Public recitations are common, but the announced choice of a location close to the mosque placed the proposed event within the context of the unresolved construction dispute and prompted police intervention before any gathering could develop.
Officials did not announce permission for the proposed recitation. Their statements instead stressed preventive deployment, patrols and monitoring, with officers instructed to maintain order and respond to any attempt to create a confrontation.
