Sambhal: The Uttar Pradesh Police’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Thursday submitted chargesheets in six cases related to the Sambhal violence that took place in November last year. The 4,000-page chargesheet revealed that Shariq Satha, who is believed to be living in the UAE, had orchestrated the violence, reported The Times of India. Five people were killed while 29 police personnel sustained injuries in the violence.
Satha is a native of Sambhal. He used to run a car theft gang that was reportedly involved in stealing 300 vehicles from Delhi-NCR. Satha has connections with Dawood Ibrahim and Pakistan’s ISI and fled the country using a fake passport, reported TOI quoting the police.
There are 79 accused named in the chargesheet. All the accused are currently lodged in jail.
“Satha’s involvement came to light during the investigation, and based on evidence recovered by us, we can say that he orchestrated the violence. As of now, the chargesheets are submitted in the court against 79 people, including members of Satha’s gang. This is the first lot of chargesheets, and we will file a supplementary chargesheet as the investigation progresses,” Sambhal SP Krishan Kumar Bishnoi told the media house.
During the investigation, the police recovered foreign-made catridges from the violence and also “unusual money transfers to account holders” in the district. In thye chargesheet, Samajwadi Party MP Ziaur Rahman Barq and local MLA Iqbal Mahmood’s son Suhail Iqbal were also reportedly named.
The violence erupted on November 24 last year in Sambhal during a court-ordered Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid, a 500-year-old mosque in the district. The survey was initiated following claims that the mosque was constructed on the ruins of a Hindu temple allegedly demolished during the Mughal period.
A total of 12 FIRs were registered in connection with the violence. The SIT is investigating all the FIRs. Notably, bullets “manufactured in Pakistan and the US” were recovered from the spot.
