New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh government has said it will make protesters pay for the damage to public property in Sambhal during the violence that broke out over a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid Sunday.
A spokesperson of the government told the media that posters of the “stone pelters” would be put up in prominent public locations.
Confirming the order, a senior police officer said, “The government is taking strict action against those who disrupted law and order in the district. The posters of those who threw stones on the survey team and police officials will be put up. Moreover, damages to public property will also be recovered from them.”
Sambhal reached a tipping point Sunday after protesters clashed with the police when the survey team reached the Shahi Jama Masjid to assess whether the mosque was built where a temple once stood. Four people were killed and several police personnel were injured.
The survey on Sunday was the second after a petition was filed on 19 November that said the mosque was built after razing a temple in 1526. The first survey took place within hours of that order.
As many as 27 people, including three minors and three women, have been apprehended so far. Seven FIRs have been lodged including one against Sambhal Samajwadi Party MP Zia-ur-Rahman Barq and Sohail Iqbal, son of SP MLA Iqbal Mahmood.
“A total of 74 people have been identified with the help of the public, camera and video footage. Identification of others is being done. We have also issued their videos and photos to seek help from the people so that they can be easily identified,” Divisional Commissioner of Moradabad Division, Aunjaneya Kumar Singh, told the media.
The Sambhal administration has also released photos of over 42 suspects, yet to be arrested, seen in CCTV footage in violence-hit areas. Some of them were seen with bricks in their hands, and some had their faces covered with masks.
UP govt did this during 2020 anti-CAA protests too
In the aftermath of the violence that broke out during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests in 2020, the UP government had also put up posters of individuals allegedly responsible for the vandalism in different locations, including in capital Lucknow. But the Allahabad High Court had asked the state government to remove these “name and shame” posters back then, calling it a violation of Article 21 of the Constitution.
“In entirety, we have no doubt that the action of the state, which is the subject matter of this public interest litigation, is nothing but an unwarranted interference in the privacy of people,” the HC had said.
“Accordingly, the district magistrate and the commissioner of police, Lucknow, are directed to remove the banners from the roadside forthwith. The State of Uttar Pradesh is directed not to place such banners on roadside containing personal data of individuals without having authority of law,” the court had added.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
Also Read: Sambhal Masjid row: A Mughal-era mosque, Gyanvapi-like legal battle & clashes that killed 4