Mandya, Sep 23 (IANS): The villagers of Santhebachahalli in Mandya district of Karnataka have demanded action against a maulana who has turned a government Urdu school into his dwelling place.

The Urdu government school was constructed 45 years ago. It was closed for want of students. As the school is located close to the mosque, the religious leaders have painted its walls with green colour. They have also converted it into a prayer hall, the villagers have complained.

The village panchayat joined hands with the religious leaders and with maulana, the villagers alleged.

The village panchayat has given consent for the conversion of Urdu school into a religious centre. The dwelling place of Maulana has been mentioned as 'temple of Babiah' in records, the villagers said.

Tehsildar of K.R. Pet, Shivamurthy, visited the village on Thursday and conducted spot inspection of the government Urdu school which is now the dwelling place of Maulana (a religious preacher).

"I have received a complaint about a government school being encroached upon. It seems the school has been converted into a religious centre after encroachment. I will check the records and submit a report to the district commissioner in this regard for action," he explained.

However, Naresh, a local Hindu Jagaran Vedike member, stated that the government property should not be encroached upon. The authorities should intervene and take action on the issue. The people of different faiths in the village are living peacefully like brothers and the authorities should not give any room for communal tensions, he demanded.