A three-member judicial investigation committee recorded additional statements on Saturday regarding the violence that occurred in Uttar Pradesh`s Sambhal in November 2024, which was triggered by a court-ordered survey of a Mughal-era mosque in the district, PTI reported.
Gopal Sharma, an advocate representing the Hindu side in the case, appeared before the panel at the PWD Guest House. Speaking to reporters afterward, Sharma stated that the Commission had requested him to submit a written affidavit as an eyewitness to the incident.
“I have submitted the affidavit to the Commission,” Sharma explained. “They also asked me several follow-up questions, including who was present, whether the riot was pre-planned, why people forcibly entered the site, and how the photography was conducted. I answered all of these questions thoroughly,” PTI cited.
Tensions had been escalating in Sambhal since November 19, 2024, when a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid took place, prompted by claims that a Harihar temple once stood at the location.
On November 24, during a second round of the survey, clashes broke out between protesting locals and security personnel, resulting in the deaths of four people and injuries to many others.
The investigation panel, which consists of former high court judge Devendra Arora, ex-police chief Arvind Kumar Jain, and former Uttar Pradesh additional chief secretary Amit Mohan Prasad, first visited Sambhal on December 1, 2024, and again on January 21 and 30 this year.
During its fourth visit on Friday, advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, who claims the Shahi Jama Masjid was originally a Hindu temple, also recorded his statement.
Sambhal riots: Judicial panel record statements
Members of the judicial commission appointed by the Uttar Pradesh government to investigate the riots that erupted during a survey at the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal on November 24 last year recorded statements of local people in connection with the incident on Friday.
The commission, which includes former High Court Judge Devendra Arora, former Director General of Police (DGP) Arvind Kumar Jain and former Uttar Pradesh Additional Chief Secretary Amit Mohan Prasad, is stationed at the PWD guest house on Chandausi Road to record the statements, officials said.
Tension had been brewing in Sambhal since November 19 when the court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid was carried out following claims that a Harihar temple previously stood at the site. Violence erupted on November 24 in which four people were killed.
Meanwhile, the Allahabad High Court on Friday directed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to clean the premises of Jama Masjid in Sambhal but did not pass an order for whitewashing of the mosque.
(With agency inputs)
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