Sambhal violence: Shahi Jama Masjid head Zafar Ali sent to Moradabad jail, could face life in jail

Zia ur Rehman Barq, the Samajwadi Party MP from Sambhal, and Sohail Iqbal, the son of six-time SP MLA Iqbal Mehmood who is also the deputy leader of the party in the UP Assembly, have also been booked under the same sections. Burq, Iqbal, and others were named in the First Information Report (FIR) lodged by a policeman within a few days of the Sambhal violence on November 24 last year in the wake of a court-ordered survey of the mosque to determine whether a temple existed at the premises.

Zafar Ali is the first member of the mosque committee to be arrested in connection with the violence. He was arrested after being interrogated for four hours at the Sambhal Kotwali Police Station, and was produced in the Chandausi court in the afternoon which sent him to the judicial remand for two days. He was sent to the prison in Moradabad where he reached at 9.30 pm Sunday. His lawyer said they would move his bail application to the court of the district judge Monday.

“I have been falsely implicated. I did not incite people for the violence on November 24. I have been arrested because I had held a press conference on November 26, and said that deaths during the violence occurred during police firing,” Ali told local media persons while being taken to the jail in Moradabad.

Four people died and many, including 29 police personnel, sustained injuries in the violence that broke out during the second survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal on November 24.

Ali was detained by the police on November 25, 2024, a day after the violence outside the mosque, and was released after questioning.

In November, Krishna Kumar, SP, Sambhal, said Ali allegedly informed “miscreants” about the survey team’s visits to the mosque on November 19 and 24, leading to the protests. The survey team left without completing the survey on November 19 due to the protest.

Another officer said on November 24, Zafar Ali was inside the mosque with the survey team, but his information allegedly led to a large crowd gathering and engaging in violence.

Shirish Chand, Additional SP, Sambhal, said Sunday Ali had been on the police’s radar since the day of the violence. “…that was why we picked him up for interrogation last year. Due to a lack of proper evidence, we had to release him, and since then, we have been gathering more clinching evidence. Today, he has been arrested,” he said.

However, Zafar Ali’s elder brother Tahir said the police picked up Zafar on Sunday to prevent him from appearing before the judicial commission, set up to investigate the Sambhal violence, Monday.

Tahir also said his brother will stand firm on his allegation that the four deaths in the Sambhal violence were “caused due to police firing”. He said they would challenge his brother’s arrest in the Allahabad High Court.

So far, 80 people, including Zafar Ali and three women, have been arrested. No one has been granted bail.