Sambhal violence: PIL in Allahabad High Court seeks judicial probe into role of police, DM

A plea has been filed in the Allahabad High Court seeking a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the communal violence that erupted in Sambhal district following a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid..The plea filed by one Dr Anand Prakash Tiwari calls for the formation of SIT headed by a retired High Court judge to investigate the roles and actions of various officials, including the Commissioner of Police, the Superintendent of Police (SP), the District Magistrate (DM) and the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), among others..The petitioner has also prayed for the formation of a committee comprising officers from central investigative agencies, independent of the Uttar Pradesh government's jurisdiction, to examine the role and omissions of State officers in the incident and submit a report within a specific timeline.The plea also urges the Court to frame guidelines outlining the roles and responsibilities of district authorities while assisting in surveys of religious monuments/sites in the future as directed by courts.The present PIL is filed through Advocates Imran Ullah and Vineet Vikram..On November 19, a civil court in Sambhal directed an advocate commissioner to conduct a survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal.The direction was issued in response to a plea filed by Advocate Hari Shankar Jain and seven others, who had claimed that the Mosque was constructed over a demolished temple during the Mughal era.Civil judge (senior division) Aditya Singh has appointed Ramesh Raghav as the advocate commissioner to conduct a survey and submit a report by November 29..Four people were reportedly killed amid stone-pelting and vehicle-torching incidents that followed the order. Violence erupted between protestors and police personnel on November 24 after a team of surveyors arrived in Chandausi town to conduct a second survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid, after the initial survey had been conducted on November 19.An autopsy had ruled out police firing as the cause of the deaths.