The Uttar Pradesh administration on Wednesday, November 27, released photos of some of the rioters who on Sunday went on a rampage in Sambhal attacking the police as well as the mosque survey team.
It includes three women accused also, who allegedly helped the stone-pelters in escalating violence during the deadly face-off between protesters and the police.
Sunday's violent confrontation in Sambhal left four young men dead and several people injured, including over a dozen policemen. The violence erupted when a mob gathered outside the city's Jama Masjid to protest against the court-ordered survey.
According to police sources, many startling findings are coming to the fore in the events of the day as the accused and suspects are being grilled. Police maintain that it was a pre-planned attack with the blessings of some 'influential' people.
"Women accomplices were instructed to hurl stones at the cops from the rooftops," one of the accused told the police.
Meanwhile, reports indicate that the UP government is considering severe action against the rioters for the arson, destruction and vandalisation of public property in Kot Garvi, the area where the centuries old mosque is located.
While an ASI team conducted a survey of the mosque, the violent crowd torched many vehicles including those of the police, resulting in retaliatory action by the cops. A Magisterial enquiry is underway into the violence.
The perpetrators who unleashed violence upon the police team are to be identified from the scanning of footage from CCTVs and drones. So far, 27 people have been taken into custody while more than 100 others have also been identified for pelting stones at the policemen.
Sambhal MP Zia-ur-Rehman Barq and Sohail Iqbal, the son of MLA Iqbal Mehmood – both from the Samajwadi Party (SP) have been booked by the Sambhal police for alleged complicity in the riots.
The SP lawmakers charges-framing has triggered a war of words between Akhilesh Yadav and the ruling BJP. He blamed the state administration and the UP Police for the brutal violence, while the former said that the SP lawmakers provoked the mob and instigated the rioters.
It pertains to the reporting of the 16th-century Jama Masjid mosque at Muradabad's Sambhal as is directed by the court while the petitions claim a temple called Harihar used to stand at the same location.
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