The Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday attached the Sambhal house of a Dubai-based businessman whom they accused of being the mastermind of the November 24, 2024, violence in which four persons lost their lives.
The local administration said Shakir Satha, who deals in used cars, had hatched the conspiracy from the Gulf country and that his house in the Deepa Sarai area had been attached on court orders.
Dhirendra Kumar, a local tehsildar who led a team of revenue department officials and police to confiscate Satha’s house, said: “He was the mastermind of the violence. Although he lives in Dubai, he hatched a conspiracy from there to light a communal fire in Sambhal. We had moved court seeking permission to confiscate his house because he didn’t respond to repeated summons.”
Local sources said Satha has been living in Dubai with his family for 10 years and visits India every two-three years. The last time he is known to have come to India was in 2022.
Tension had been brewing in Sambhal since November 19, 2024, when a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid was carried out following claims that a Harihar temple previously stood at the site before it was demolished during Aurangzeb’s rule.
On November 24, during a second round of the survey, protesting locals clashed with security personnel, which led to the death of four persons and injuries to dozens.
Muslims had claimed that some people accompanying the surveyors had chanted “Jai Sri Ram” to provoke the minority community.
Krishan Kumar Bishnoi, the superintendent of police of Sambhal, said after the process of attachment was completed on Wednesday: “We had identified Mullah Afroz, Mohammad Ghulam and Mohammad Waris for firing at the crowd. They belong to a group of criminals run by Satha from Dubai. He had provided them with weapons. During interrogation, the trio spoke about Satha’s role in the violence. He did not respond to the summons, fearing arrest. Finally, we declared him an absconder.”
Bishnoi said Satha was a vehicle thief and a gold smuggler, adding that cases were pending against him in Delhi as well. “We had recovered cartridges made in Pakistan and the US from the street behind the mosque after the violence. Our inquiry suggests that Satha had smuggled them to India,” the SP added.
This is the first attachment of property in connection with the November 2024 violence. Rajendra Pensiya, the district magistrate of Sambhal, said: “The bulldozer action and confiscation of properties will continue in the district.”
CJM transfer row
Over 50 lawyers staged a demonstration on the Chandausi district court premises in Sambhal on Wednesday in protest against the transfer of chief judicial magistrate Vibhanshu Sudheer. He had ordered the police on January 9 to file an FIR against 22 policemen for firing at a crowd during the violence near Shahi Jama Masjid on November 24, 2024.
Rajesh Yadav, former president of the association, told reporters after a day-long dharna of the lawyers: “The CJM was sincere and honest in his work and following the judicial norms meticulously. He had found substance in the petition and asked the police to file the FIR because the policemen had allegedly killed four persons during the survey of Shahi Jama Masjid.”
“We believe that his transfer has set a wrong precedent and it should be withdrawn immediately,” he added.
