Three killed in violence during Sambhal Mosque investigation

Addressing a press conference in Lucknow, Akhilesh Yadav said, “A serious incident has occurred in Sambhal. An investigative team was deliberately sent in the morning to disrupt discussions about the elections. The intention was to create chaos so that no debate on election issues could take place. .”

“I don’t want to go into the legal or procedural aspects, but the other side was not even heard. This was done deliberately to provoke emotions and avoid discussions about election manipulation,” he said.

“What happened in Sambhal was orchestrated by the BJP, the government and the government to divert attention from electoral malpractices,” the former UP chief minister alleged.

On Saturday, the Sambhal district administration booked 34 people on bail of up to Rs 10 lakh for arrest of breach of peace.

Sub-Divisional Magistrate Vandana Mishra told PTI on Saturday that among the bound people is Mamlukur Rahman Barq, father of Samajwadi Party’s Sambhal MP Zia ur Rahman Barq.

Supreme Court lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, who is the petitioner in the case, had said that the Court of Civil Judge (Senior Division) had ordered the setting up of an “Advocate Commission” to investigate the mosque.

The court has said that a report should be submitted after conducting a video and photography investigation through the commission, he said.

The Central and Uttar Pradesh governments, the Mosque Committee and the Sambhal District Magistrate have become parties to the petition over the mosque, Jain said on Tuesday.

Vishnu Shankar Jain and his father Hari Shankar Jain have represented the Hindu side in many cases related to places of worship, including the Gyanvapi Mosque and Kashi Vishwanath Temple disputes.

Gopal Sharma, a local lawyer from the Hindu side, told PTI on Friday that in his petition filed in the court, he mentioned that “Baburnama” and the “Ain-e-Akbari” have confirmed that there was a Harihar temple on the spot where the Jama Masjid now stands.

He also claimed that the temple was demolished in 1529 by Mughal Emperor Babur.

Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq had objected to the developments.

“The Jama Masjid of Sambhal is historic and very old. The Supreme Court had ordered in 1991 that all religious places existing in any state since 1947 will remain in place,” he had said.

The next hearing date in this case is January 29.