Sambhal: Walking past shuttered shops and abandoned homes, the man wearing an orange hoodie is on his way home. The Shahi Jama Masjid on the adjacent street is within sight. He sees police vehicles heading towards him from the opposite direction. Almost immediately, he removes his skull cap and stuffs it in his pocket.
He is among Muslims in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal who fear arrest, or worse, in the aftermath of violence that left at least four dead and more than 20 police personnel injured.
With internet services suspended and schools closed at the orders of the district administration, an eerie silence envelops Sambhal. Hundreds of police personnel are on duty near Shahi Jama Masjid to prevent further violence. Damaged cars and rubble dot the lanes where clashes erupted Sunday after a court-ordered survey of the mosque.
Surrounded by towering white walls, Shahi Jama Masjid has been closed for visitors for the time being.
So far, seven FIRs have been lodged and 25, including “two women and several minors” held in connection with the violence. Advocate Zafar Ali, sadar (chief) of the mosque committee, was also called in for questioning by the police.
Among those booked are Samajwadi Party’s Sambhal MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq and the son of Samajwadi Party’s Sambhal MLA Iqbal Mehmood.
The violence broke out Sunday after a six-member survey team visited the mosque for the second time in less than a week, to honour the order passed by a local court on 19 November on a petition filed by a priest. The petitioner has claimed a temple once stood at the site and was demolished in the 16th century to make way for the mosque.
Police sources told ThePrint the need for a second survey arose after the first on 19 November could not be completed for lack of proper lighting. The survey team also left the area prematurely that day since a crowd had gathered around the masjid, sources added.
‘Rioters came prepared’
According to Sambhal Superintendent of Police (SP) Krishan Bishnoi, while the survey team was still inside the mosque, rioters started pelting stones at police personnel deployed there between 8.30 am and 9 am Sunday morning. This, said SP Bishnoi, was despite heavy police presence—including at least five companies of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) and personnel from eight police stations, in addition to four gazetted officers.
“They (rioters) came prepared. A huge crowd gathered outside the masjid and blocked the three lanes around it. They had bricks, stones, double-edged knives and countrymade pistols. They fired at police and injured circle officer Anuj Tomar who is part of the SIT (special investigation team) and police PRO Sanjeev Som, who suffered gunshot wounds. I, too, suffered injuries. Additionally, 20 police personnel were also injured,” he told ThePrint.
On the probe into the violence, police sources said mobile phones of those held are being analysed to find out who told people to gather near the Shahi Jama Masjid in such large numbers. “It wasn’t time for namaz. Everything was being done peacefully but all of a sudden a huge crowd gathered and rioting erupted,” a senior police official said.
While the situation near the Shahi Jama Masjid was contained by 11 am, reports of violence started coming in from Nakhasa area where the situation was brought under control only by 1 pm, it is learnt.
‘We saw police open fire’
Ask local residents and they claim Muslim men killed during the clashes died in police firing. “Why will Muslims kill their fellow brothers? We saw the police open fire,” claimed Sadan, a local resident. Salman Zaidi, another local resident, told ThePrint that the “circle officer misbehaved” with Muslims, adding that the police resorted to “lathi-charge to disperse the crowd, after which people retaliated with stone pelting”.
“Police fired and killed these men and now they are covering up,” he claimed.
But SP Bishnoi maintained the police “had strict orders not to fire on anyone” and used “only pellet guns, smoke guns and tear gas to disperse the crowd”.
He added that the police are looking into the allegations and bodies of the deceased have been sent for post-mortem. “We have recovered two .32 bore pistols, two .315 pistols, four countrymade weapons and knives from houses of the accused,” he revealed.
Sambhal District Magistrate Rajender Pensiya had told the media earlier, “The reason for the deaths of two is clear—bullet wounds from countrymade pistols. The reason for the death of the third person is not clear, but it will be after the post-mortem.”
A local resident ThePrint spoke to, however, accused the police and district administration of “lying”. “Police opened fire at the crowd. They didn’t use their service weapons, maybe that’s why it says death due to countrymade weapons. They want to show there is a large conspiracy behind this, but there isn’t. Muslims here fear the mosque will be razed down and that’s why they assembled,” said the local resident who did not wish to be named.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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