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Journalism of Courage
“ILLEGAL WEAPONS” were used for firing amid the violence that broke out in Sambhal on November 24 last year following a survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid and there was “no firing from the police side.” This is among the key findings of a ballistics examination of the empty shells and the firearms recovered after the riots, sources said on Wednesday. The Sambhal police have received the ballistics report, the sources said.
The report, however, is inconclusive about the bullets causing the deaths of four people as the bullets “passed through”, or exited, the bodies after they were shot, police sources said.
The weapons allegedly used were recovered from the possession of the accused arrested while empty shells were found from the spot after the violence.
On November 24 last year, violence erupted after a large crowd gathered near the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal and clashed with the police following a court-ordered survey of the 16th-century mosque.
Weapons, along with live and empty cartridges allegedly recovered from the spot and from the accused arrested in the case, were sent for forensic examination, said an officer.
A senior officer pointed out that no cartridge was found from the bodies of the four persons who died in the violence. He said “more findings about matching of the firearms and the cartridges are awaited for final confirmation.”
The violence also resulted in injuries to several persons, including police personnel. The police lodged 12 FIRs in connection with the violence and have arrested 81 persons till date. Recently, the police arrested Zafar Ali, chairman of the Shahi Jama Masjid managing committee, for his alleged involvement in the violence.
Raids are being conducted to trace around 70 persons “whose involvement surfaced during the probe”, police sources said.
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