More than 400 people have been identified, while 32 have been arrested in connection with Sambhal violence, DM Rajender Pensiya said. District magistrate of Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal Rajender Pensiya on Thursday posters will be put up on Thursday of those involved in violence that broke out on November 24 over a court-ordered survey of a mosque.
More than 400 people have been identified, while 32 have been arrested in connection with Sambhal violence, the DM told, adding that a peace committee meeting was slated to take place at 3 pm on Thursday. “We will discuss with everyone the question of how many people’s posters will be put up,” Pensiya said. “We are currently designing it [poster]. It will be finalised today. 400 people have been identified. Posters will be put up after excluding those who have been arrested,” he added.
The violence in Sambhal erupted on November 24 during an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) examination of a Mughal-era mosque. The clashes resulted in four deaths and multiple injuries among police personnel and locals. The ASI survey was prompted by a petition filed in a local court, claiming the mosque was originally built on the site of a Harihar temple.
Rahul Gandhi stopped from visiting Sambhal. On Wednesday, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi was stopped at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh Ghazipur border in Ghaziabad while he was attempting to go to Sambhal along with his MP sister Priyanka Gandhi. Criticisng the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress MP stated that visiting Sambhal was his constitutional duty and described the restrictions placed on him as unconstitutional.
In a post on X, Rahul Gandhi wrote in Hindi: “The police stopped us from going to Sambhal. As the Leader of the Opposition, it is my right and duty to go there. Yet I was stopped. I am willing to go alone, but even that was not allowed. This is against the Constitution. Why is the BJP afraid? Why is it using the police to conceal its failures? Why is it suppressing the message of truth and brotherhood?” The Congress leader also shared a video showing his interaction with a police officer.
Commuters faced a massive traffic jam at the Ghazipur border on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway on Wednesday morning as Congress workers gathered there, defying heavy barricading meant to stop Rahul Gandhi from visiting Sambhal. The Uttar Pradesh Police put up barricades and checked vehicles to prevent any untoward incident. With the carriageway from Delhi to Uttar Pradesh heavily congested, commuters faced a harrowing time in reaching their destinations. The other carriageway was open, but the vehicles moved at a snail’s speed.
