'Conspiracy To Kill Advocate, Samajwadi Party's Patronage To Rioters': Sambhal Police's Shocking Revelations On Jama Masjid Violence

Sambhal Police has arrested the accused who provided weapons and gave instructions to the rioters for the violence near Jama Masjid on 24 November 2024 over a court-ordered survey of the mosque.

The accused is identified as Ghulam with a long criminal history. The accused has 20 cases registered against him at Sambhal, nearby districts and even Delhi-NCR.

A total of 79 individuals have been arrested so far in the violence case. Several weapons and live cartridges were recovered from Ghulam, of which some weapons were made in Germany, Britain and Czechoslovakia.

"Ghulam has been arrested as the main conspirator for the murder of four individuals who died in firing by the rioters," Sambhal Superintendent of Police (SP) Krishna Kumar Bishnoi told reporters.

Explaining that the violence was pre-planned, the SP said, "Ghulam talked to his boss Sarik Satha on 23 November and decided to not let the survey happen on the next day."

Sarik Satha is also a history-sheeter and has been involved in vehicle theft gangs. He had fled to some other country a few years ago and operates from abroad through Ghulam.

The SP claimed that Sarik Satha enjoyed political patronage in the past, including that of the former Samajwadi Party member of parliament (MP) Shafiqur Rehman Barq.

A WhatsApp group named 'Sansad Sambhal' (Sambhal MP) was used to collect people in large numbers. Currently, Barq's grandson, SP leader Zia Ur Rehman Barq is the Sambhal MP and has also been named in the FIR.

Bishnoi also revealed that there was a conspiracy to kill an advocate who was involved in various petitions for reclaiming temples.

Notably, advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain has been involved in legal cases against Sambhal's Jama Masjid, Gyanvapi and a few others and was also present on the site on the day of violence. However, his name was not mentioned by the Sambhal SP.

The rioters were even provided with the image of the advocate, to help them identify him and there was a plan to kill him at the Jama Masjid to create nationwide tensions, the SP claimed.

The rioters were fed with the propaganda that the mosque is 500 years old and related to their 'ancestor' Babar, thus, it is their religious duty to protect the structure, Bishnoi added.