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Five persons are confirmed to have been killed in Sunday’s clashes between protestors and security personnel in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district, The Times of India reported.
The mob was protesting a court-ordered survey of a Mughal-era mosque. It was initially reported on Sunday evening that three persons had died in the clashes.
On Monday, Moradabad Divisional Commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh said the police had officially registered four deaths in connection with the violence. However, the family of a fifth person who died in the clashes had not sent the body for autopsy or lodged a complaint with the police, The Times of India quoted Singh as saying.
A first information report has been filed against Samajwadi Party MP Zia-ur-Rahman Barq and the son of an MLA from the party, according to the newspaper.
The incident took place on Sunday after hundreds of protestors gathered at the Shahi Jama Masjid in the district’s Chandausi town to oppose the survey, which was being conducted to investigate claims that a Hindu temple had existed at the site before the mosque was built in 1526.
Members of the mob threw stones at surveyors, who were accompanied by police personnel. The police fired tear gas shells to force the crowd to disperse.
Following the clashes on Sunday, Singh said that three persons – identified as Naeem, Bilal and Nauman – were killed. All three sustained bullet injuries during the clashes, Singh told The Indian Express.
On Monday, Singh said that the condition of another person who was injured during the clashes and a police officer was critical, The Times of India reported. The police were in the process of registering FIRs against the protestors, he said.
“The accused are identified using visuals captured by the drone cameras,” Singh said. “We have recovered videos in which a few masked men amongst the rioters were pelting stones.”
Among those against whom FIRs were filed included Barq and Sohail Iqbal, the son of party MLA Iqbal Mehmood, The Times of India quoted unidentified police officers as saying.
Twenty-one persons, including two women, were also arrested in connection with the clashes, the police officers added.
Earlier on Sunday, the administration in Sambhal prohibited outsiders, social organisations and public representatives from entering the district without prior approval. The collection of stones, soda bottles or any flammable or explosive materials on rooftops was also prohibited.
Due to the precarious law and order situation, the authorities also ordered the suspension of internet services in Sambhal for 24 hours. Schools and colleges were closed on Monday for students up to Class 12.
The mosque survey was ordered in response to an application by a Hindu priest named Rishi Raj Giri. The priest moved the court on Thursday claiming that Muslim rulers built the mosque in 1526 after demolishing a Hindu temple that stood on the site.
Hours later, a survey team went to the mosque to begin the exercise and was met with resistance.
Despite the violence, Advocate Commissioner Ramesh Chand Raghav completed the survey, which was documented in photos and on video. The survey is to be presented before a local court on Friday.
Zafar Ali, the lawyer for the mosque administration, said that the survey was carried out in a hurried manner. He said that the mosque officials would challenge the court order if needed.
Barq criticised the survey, stating that the Jama Masjid is a historic site. “The Supreme Court had ruled that religious places as they existed in 1947 must remain unchanged as per the Places of Worship Act, 1991,” he said.
Barq appealed to the people for peace. He said in a social media post that the district court’s decision was not final and expressed hope that higher courts and Parliament would ensure justice.