Police personnel with the man who has been arrested for allegedly supplying weapons during Sambhal violence, in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, on February 20, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Uttar Pradesh police submitted chargesheets running over 4,400 pages in six cases related to the Sambhal violence. The chargesheet mentioned Shariq Satha, a native of Sambhal and a fugitive auto-lifter operating from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the mastermind behind the violence.
The chargesheet was based on six First Information Reports (FIR) related to the violence filed in two police stations. The chargesheets mentioned 79 accused, all currently in jail, and invoked multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against them. In due course, more chargesheets would be filed as the investigation progressed.
Seven FIRs have been registered in relation to the violence, with names of prominent figures like local Lok Sabha MP Ziaur Rahman Barq, local MLA Iqbal Mehmood’s son, Sohail Iqbal, mentioned in multiple FIRs, but not in the chargesheet.
Sambhal witnessed violence on November 24, the second day of the Shahi Jama Masjid survey after a local court ordered it, as protesters gathered near the mosque and clashed with State police personnel, leading to heavy stone pelting; the police who claimed to have used “milk force” to control the situation allegedly fired into the crowd.
Five people died and several others were injured in the clashes. State police denied charges that it fired at the protesters. The Supreme Court has since ordered the Sambhal trial court to halt proceedings in the case and its survey. Police have arrested over 50 people allegedly involved in violence till now.
Published – February 21, 2025 10:11 pm IST