The police have pasted surrender notices on the houses of four persons in Sambhal who were allegedly involved in the Shahi Jama Masjid violence on November 24 last year.

Kuldeep Kumar, the circle officer of Asmoli where the mosque is located, said: “The accused were identified with the help of videos and photographs. They have been absconding since the day of the violence. We had put up notices on the doors of their houses. Their properties will be confiscated if they don’t surrender before the court.”

The four persons are Mohammad Samad, Mohammad Faizan, Mohammad Rahil and Mohammad Shariq.

Violence had erupted on November 24 when a court-appointed advocate commissioner had reached the site a second time to survey the shrine. Some people accompanying the advocate commissioner, police and administrative officials started chanting “Jai Shri Ram”. A large number of Muslims who had gathered at the location allegedly hurled stones at the chanters when the commission members and officers were inside the mosque. Four Muslims were killed allegedly in subsequent police firing, a charge cops have denied.

Zafar Ali, the mosque committee head, had alleged that the police had opened fire on the protesters. Krishna Kumar Bishnoi, the superintendent of police, had claimed that two factions of protesters had clashed with each other, causing the deaths. Ali was arrested on March 24 when he was preparing to depose before an inquiry commission appointed by the Uttar Pradesh government to probe the violence.

The police have issued notices to the four in Sambhal under Section 84 of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, which states: “If any court has reason to believe (whether after taking evidence or not) that any person against whom a warrant has been issued by it has absconded or is concealing himself so that such warrant cannot be executed, such court may publish a written proclamation requiring him to appear at a specified place and at a specified time not less than 30 days from the date of publishing such proclamation.”

The advocate commissioner was appointed on November 19 after Hindu petitioners petitioned the court claiming that the mosque was built by razing a Shiva temple
during emperor Aurangzeb’s time.

The masjid committee had dubbed the survey motivated and appealed to the Supreme Court to stop it. The apex court had asked the advocate commissioner to submit a report in the local court in a sealed envelope.

Ramesh Singh Raghav, a local lawyer appointed court commissioner, told reporters in Sambhal that he hopes the envelope will be opened on June 3. “The court has fixed June 3 as the next date of hearing. We hope the envelope will be opened at that time. We have found a lot of evidence in the mosque to prove that it was once a temple,” Raghav said.