Rumours of digging, narrow lanes and a rush of protesters – how Sambhal violence caught authorities off guard

A total of seven FIRs have been lodged so far against six named and more than 2,000 unnamed individuals.

The clashes erupted when a court-appointed advocate commissioner and six members of his team entered the mosque for a second survey around 7 am on Sunday. The first survey, ordered by the court, was conducted on November 19, after a priest moved an application claiming that a temple once stood at the site of the mosque and that it was demolished in the 16th Century.

Police personnel stand guard near the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal on Monday. (Express photo by Gajendra Yadav)

While flag marches are being taken out and the area surrounding the Jama Masjid has been extensively barricaded, many say this is too little too late.

Zafar Ali, the lawyer for the mosque side, claimed on Monday that he was part of a meeting the previous day wherein the DIG, the SP and the DM held a discussion and took a call to open fire. He said he appealed to the public, and while 75% of the people returned, many protesters stayed put, believing that digging was going on at the mosque.

Asked who spread this rumour, he said, “There was water surrounding the mosque, and some people concluded this was because of digging.”

Asked about the police claim that they did not fire, he said this was false and he had seen personnel firing. He said the mosque side had opposed measurements being taken and requested that the authorities rely on photography and videography, but they did not agree.

Asked whether the violence was a failure of the local administration, the Sambhal District Magistrate Rajendra Pensiya said, “We had made security arrangements and posted more cops than what our intelligence sleuths had given us inputs (about deploying). Pockets where there was apprehension of violence were heavily barricaded. The crowd swelled suddenly after an announcement was made from the mosque that the survey had been completed. The crowd came from three sides and started attacking cops. We retaliated. An inquiry has been ordered and the truth will come out soon.”

Policemen on guard near Shahi Jama Masjid in UP’s Sambhal following the clashes on Sunday. (Express photo by Gajendra Yadav)

Even as the families of the dead men claimed they were killed in police firing, the DM said, “Those who died were hit by bullets from country-made pistols. We have their post-mortem reports and clinching video footage to prove that no one died in police firing. One thing is for sure that the mob was provoked. We have recovered knives and guns from the possessions of a few of those arrested.”

Samajwadi Party’s Rajya Sabha MP Ram Gopal Yadav demanded that a case of murder be lodged against the DM and the SP for their failure to contain the violence.

But officials insisted they had made “adequate security arrangements”. “The crowd emerged in large numbers from narrow lanes near the mosque and soon outnumbered the cops. They were carrying pointed and heavy stones, some of them were wielding weapons. This could not have happened suddenly without planning. The protesters were instigated,” said a high ranking administrative official on condition of anonymity.

To be sure, the simmering anger was evident when The Indian Express visited the town on Friday, when weekly prayers are held at the mosque. Instead of the usual 500, almost 2,000 people had gathered.

At the time, two of the three lanes leading to the mosque were barricaded and policemen and a posse of security personnel were stationed on the road.

Superintendent of Police Krishna Kumar Bishnoi claimed that criminal elements had entered the crowd on Sunday and they led people to attack the police personnel. “We are following a zero tolerance policy towards criminals. Those arrested will face the Goonda Act and the National Security Act,” he said.