The historical Guru Nanak Palace may have been constructed over four centuries ago in Bathanwala village on New Lahore Road. (Photo: Dawn.com)

Four-centuries-old Guru Nanak Palace was demolished by a group of locals in Pakistan's Punjab province, a report in a Pakistani media outlet said.

The four-storey building, located on New Lahore Road in Bathanwala village - about 100 km from Lahore, was allegedly demolished with the permission of Auqaf department officials.

According to a report in Pakistan news website Dawn.com, Guru Nanak Palace was built of bricks, sand, clay and limestone. There were 16 large rooms in the building, all of which had at least three beautiful doors and at least four ventilators. The rooms were constructed with large broad walls that had cupboards with wooden doors and flowers carved into them.

The locals, who demolished the building, also sold the doors, windows and ventilators, deemed priceless, the report said.

The Pak media report said the Diyar wood beams, stolen from the palace, cost thousands of rupees per foot.

"This old building is called the Palace of Baba Guru Nanak and we have named it Mahalan. A number of Sikhs from across the world, including India, used to visit this building," a local, Muhammad Aslam, told Dawn.

Muhammad Aslam told the news site that once a six-member delegation, including a woman carrying a large book with information about the historical building, had come here from Canada. The delegation was elated at visiting the site, he was quoted as saying.

Another local, Muhammad Ashraf, who also spoke to Dawn said, "The Auqaf department was informed about the demolition of the building by some influential persons, but no officer or official took any action or even reached here."

"Three storeys of the building have already been demolished and new houses constructed. The influentials have demolished the building with the connivance of the Auqaf department and sold its costly windows, doors, ventilators and wood," he told the Pak media house.

In an effort to determine the legal status of the building, locate its owners or find out which government department maintained its record, the Pak news site said that it reached out to various officials, but apparently everyone seemed clueless - from the deputy commissioner, Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) to the family that lived in the building.

Muhammad Anwar, who claimed to own the building, was also behind its demolition. He claimed that after Partition his forefathers started living in this building where his family continued to reside. "I do not know whose property this building is as we have been living here for generations. We demolished it because it was in a dangerous, dilapidated condition," Muhammad Anwar was quoted as saying.

"There is no mention of this building in the revenue record. As it seems to be historical, we are checking the municipal committee's record," Narowal Deputy Commissioner Waheed Asghar, who is in charge of the record of all properties in the region, told Dawn.

Disclaimer:

Our reporter Hamza has found that Dawn report is false. Click here to read what India Today TV reporter investigation revealed on Guru Nanak Palace.

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