Uttar Pradesh Police have arrested Zafar Ali, president of the Shahi Jama Masjid committee, for allegedly masterminding the violence that broke out in Sambhal district during a survey of a mosque in November 2024.
Ali was picked up from his house and questioned by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) before being arrested formally. The violence, that erupted while carrying out a second inspection of the Shahi Jama Masjid, claimed five lives and caused many injuries, including to police personnel.
Ali was taken into custody on the basis of the evidence gathered by the SIT, and charges were brought under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code, including rioting, fomenting enmity, and obstructing public servants.
The violence started on November 24 when a civil court had directed a survey of the mosque, a Mughal-era building, after charges that it was constructed over a Hindu temple. When the second survey took place, there were clashes between protesters and the police. The police asserted that they did not shoot at the protesters, but that "some miscreants" in the crowd had started the violence. The mosque committee chairman, Ali, challenged the account of the police, claiming the five men killed were victims of police gunfire.
Ali, who is a practicing advocate and president of the mosque committee, had been under police investigation since the riots happened. He was arrested initially in 2024 but released on account of lack of evidence. However, over the subsequent months, investigations were able to collect enough evidence to connect Ali with the riots. Ali was arrested despite protests from his side that he did not fuel any violence.
Ali's older brother, Tahir Ali, also a lawyer, said the arrest was politically motivated to keep Zafar from appearing as a witness before a judicial commission probing the violence. Zafar Ali was set to testify, stating that the killings were the result of police firing. The authorities were attempting to suppress his brother's testimony and deliberately provoke public disturbances, Tahir claimed.
To counter the arrest, the authorities have sent considerable security personnel to the area, including more than 200 officers, to ensure peace in the vicinity of the Shahi Jama Masjid, a place that has been of historical and religious importance for ages.
The mosque is a preserved monument under the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act, and the controversy here is based on the charges that it was constructed by demolishing a Hindu temple. The legal war over the mosque has been continuous, with the Supreme Court holding courts back from accepting new suits or orders on mosque surveys.
The probe into the violence on November 24 has yielded a charge sheet of more than 4,000 pages, naming 159 accused persons. The police have also recovered weapons from the violence site, which were made in nations such as the UK, USA, Germany, and Czechoslovakia.
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