THE UP government has begun collecting details about the cases registered during the Sambhal riots of 1978 which left many dead and injured. According to the Sambhal police, 162 cases were registered at the Kotwali police station in the district during the violence. Of these, one case, which involved multiple deaths, was handed over to the UP Police’s Crime Branch CID for investigation, while the remaining cases were investigated by the local police. Sources said most of the accused in these 162 cases were Muslims. Sambhal was a part of Moradabad district until 2011, when the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) government carved it out as a separate district. Hence, cases related to the 1978 violence were heard in the Moradabad district court. According to police, the violence began on March 29, 1978, when a man from the Hindu community killed a cleric inside the Jama Masjid. The assailant was beaten up by the public, but by then, the tension had already spread to a significant portion of the district. Sources said tensions had been simmering for a month prior to the violence. The Janata Party government in the state was then headed by chief minister Naresh Yadav. Sources said directives had been issued to the Moradabad prosecution department and a police team from Sambhal district to compile information about the cases registered during the violence. The Sambhal police team is reviewing records from the relevant police stations, while the prosecution department is gathering case details from various courts in Moradabad. Sources said the police, in coordination with the district administration, is also investigating those who allegedly acquired the properties of the victims. Sambhal District Magistrate Rajender Pensiya told The Indian Express that details requested by the government were being collected. The government initiated the process after MLC Shrichand Sharma reportedly sought details of the riots, prompting Deputy Secretary (Home) Satendra Pratap Singh to issue a letter to Sambhal officials, directing them to take “appropriate action” on the matter, said a senior official posted in Sambhal. MLC Sharma told The Indian Express that he raised the issue of the 1978 Sambhal violence in the Vidhan Parishad on December 17. During his address, he mentioned that 184 people were killed in the violence, many were burned alive, and their houses and shops were forcibly seized. He further demanded that the properties that were allegedly wrongfully acquired from the victims be returned to them. Sharma also sought clarification on the actions taken against those responsible for the violence, urging that appropriate legal action be taken against the accused. Sources said that, so far, neither the police nor the prosecution department has found any evidence indicating that anyone was convicted in connection with these cases. “We are gathering details of the cases registered during the violence and their current status from both the court and police records. From court records, we are also examining the basis on which the accused were acquitted,” said an officer. Amid the current row over Sambhal's Jama Masjid, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on December 16 referred to the 1978 Sambhal riots to target the Opposition, saying the violence had “exposed their true nature” while asking, “Why have those responsible for the massacre in Sambhal not been punished to this day?”
