Two prison officials have been suspended for violating the jail manual and allowing an Opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) delegation to meet people arrested in connection with the violence during the survey of Jama Masjid in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal on November 24.
Director general (prison administration and reform services) PV Ramasastry identified the two officials as jailer Vikram Singh Yadav and his deputy Praveen Singh of the Moradabad prison. He added a report against the jail superintendent PP Singh has been sent to the state government for action as he is a Group A officer.
Ramasastry said the action was taken after deputy inspector general (prisons) Kuntal Kishore conducted an inquiry and found the manual was violated.
On Monday, the SP delegation including former Parliament member ST Hasan, lawmakers Nawab Jaan Khan and Chaudhary Samarpal Singh visited the Moradabad jail to meet 27 people arrested for their alleged involvement in the Sambhal violence. A video of the jail visit went viral. SP leaders claimed that the accused were beaten up and that they promised legal help.
The violence in Sambhal left four people dead days after a suit was filed in Sambhal’s civil court on November 19 claiming the Shahi Jama Masjid was built on the site of a “Harihar Temple”. The court appointed an advocate commissioner on the day the suit was filed for the mosque’s photographic and videographic survey. The order was passed ex parte. No notice was issued to the mosque management and within hours, the survey was conducted. Another survey was carried out five days later with barely six-hour notice to the mosque committee.
{{/usCountry}}The violence in Sambhal left four people dead days after a suit was filed in Sambhal’s civil court on November 19 claiming the Shahi Jama Masjid was built on the site of a “Harihar Temple”. The court appointed an advocate commissioner on the day the suit was filed for the mosque’s photographic and videographic survey. The order was passed ex parte. No notice was issued to the mosque management and within hours, the survey was conducted. Another survey was carried out five days later with barely six-hour notice to the mosque committee.
{{/usCountry}}