Five people were detained after miscreants attempted to break barricades and threw stones at police personnel who were overseeing a pre-dawn demolition drive to remove encroachments near a mosque in Old Delhi early Wednesday. The police responded by firing tear gas to disperse the protesters and brought the situation under control.

Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) officials said the drive began at 1 am near the Faiz-e-Ilahi mosque in the Turkman Gate area to remove unauthorised structures, most of which are 100 years old, following a Delhi High Court order. Police said four to five police officers suffered minor injuries.

The demolition went ahead even as the Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued notice on a petition filed by the managing committee of Masjid Syed Elahi, which has challenged the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s (MCD) decision to remove alleged encroachments from land adjoining the mosque and graveyard at Ramlila Maidan.

Delhi Police have registered a case in connection with the incident, invoking multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property (PDPP) Act, officials said.