Heated arguments took place between a senior police officer in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal town and the chairperson of the Shahi Jama Masjid and others after the district police pasted posters of 74 suspects in the Sambhal violence case on the wall of the mosque Friday. The police move came hours after posters of an accused that they had put up at several places in Sambhal were torn off by unidentified people on Friday afternoon. The posters announced a reward for those sharing information about the suspects. Five people were killed and nearly 50 others, including a dozen policemen, were injured in the violence that broke out in Sambhal on November 24 last year in the wake of a court-ordered survey of the sixteenth-century mosque. Jafar Ali, the chairperson of the Shahi Jama Masjid managing committee, and others accompanying him later told Shrish Chandra, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), Sambhal North, that posters cannot be pasted on the walls of any religious place and they should be removed immediately. In a video of the incident, the ASP is seen saying, “Your people threw stones at the police.during last year’s violence and indulged in arson. The posters contain photographs of the people who were involved that day. You are motivating your youth to proceed on a path of destruction.” He said that the steps taken by the district police were within the framework of existing laws. “We have identified nearly 74 suspects through various sources, which includes photographs taken by drone cameras that we used to monitor the crowd,” the ASP added. Speaking to The Indian Express, Jafar Ali said, “I requested the officer that we have no objection in putting up posters of suspects but these should not appear at our religious place as it hurts our sentiments. I even suggested that if the police want such posters near the mosque, these should be put up on makeshift boards outside our place of worship.” “This is not the way one requests by standing on the road. You can’t tell us what plan of action we should follow against the criminals. The poster has not only been put up here, but also in other parts of the town. Objections may be registered with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) as the mosque is a protected property,” the ASP stated. On Friday, ASP Chandra told reporters, “The posters contain photographs of suspects carrying stone in their hands. The photos of suspects have been captured through CCTV footage from drone cameras, closed-circuit television (CCTV) and videos made on mobile phones were directly involved in the violence. Their identity is yet to be confirmed, so posters have been put up to seek public assistance in identifying them." The police were directed to ensure the posters were not removed. Superintendent of Police Krishna Kant Bishnoi said on Friday that no innocent people will be persecuted but “those we identified through footage from CCTVs, drones and mobile phones will face strict punitive action.” The police registered eight FIRs against 150 suspects in the Sambhal violence case who were identified through various means and against nearly 2,500 unidentified people after the violence. Seventy-six accused, including four women, have been arrested so far for allegedly pelting stones at the police from the rooftops of their houses. They are yet to get bail.
