Sambhal violence: SP MP asked to appear before judicial commission on April 16
Local media persons, who reported the violence, also asked to appear before the commission on April 15 to have their statements recorded
LUCKNOW The three-member judicial commission, constituted to probe the November 2024 Sambhal violence, has directed Samajwadi Party MP from Sambhal, Zia-ur-Rahman Barq, to appear before it in the state capital on April 16 to record his statements in the ongoing probe into the incident that claimed five lives.
Former high court judge Justice DK Arora, former chief secretary Amit Mohan Prasad and ex-DGP Arvind Kumar Jain are members of the judicial commission which was constituted by the state government on November 28, 2024.
“We have asked the Sambhal MP to appear before the commission on April 16 to record his statements,” said former DGP AK Jain, member of the commission, on Friday.
“Media persons have also been asked to appear before the commission on April 15 to have their statements record ed,” he added. They are local media persons of Sambhal who had reported the Sambhal violence.
Jain also requested media persons to submit any unedited evidence or detail related to the Sambhal violence. He added that it would take around one and a half months more to complete the probe and file the report.
The commission will also record statements of Jama Masjid managing committee chairman Zafar Ali, currently lodged in Moradabad prison. He was arrested by the Sambhal police on March 24 for allegedly orchestrating violence in the district during the mosque survey. As he is in prison, no date has been fixed for his appearance before the commission yet.
Sambhal was in the news after the court of civil judge (senior division) there on November 19, 2024, ordered a survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid following a petition by Supreme Court lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain.
The court also appointed Ramesh Raghav as the advocate commissioner to carry out the survey. The advocate commissioner carried out an initial survey of the mosque on November 19, 2024, evening in the presence of district magistrate Rajender Pensiya and superintendent of police KK Bishnoi. A second round of the survey began on November 24, sparking protests and violence. Five people were killed, and 29 police personnel were injured.
12 FIRs lodged, charge sheet filed in six: Sambhal SP
Superintendent of police (Sambhal) KK Bishnoi apprised the three-member judicial commission about the progress of the ongoing investigation into the violence. The officer was in Lucknow to appear before the commission and record his statements. He was questioned for over three hours.
“I have submitted all details related to the Sambhal violence to the judicial commission. The information has been submitted through supplementary affidavit,” Bishnoi told media persons.
“In the Sambhal violence, 12 FIRs have been filed. Out of which charge sheets have been filed in six. The remaining will be filed soon. We have also got the ballistic report of the weapons used in the violence,” he added.
