India
3 killed in crowd-police clash during Mughal-era mosque investigation in UP’s Sambhal | India News – Times of India
The violence broke out during a court-ordered investigation into a Mughal-era mosque, which the Hindu side said was built on the site of an ancient Harihar temple of Lord Vishnu.
About two hours after the investigation began, a group of protesters gathered at the site and began throwing stones at security personnel, leading to injuries among officials.
A police officer and two people from the crowd were also injured and taken to hospital.
The situation forced the police to resort to lathi charges and tear gas to disperse the crowd. In the aftermath of the incident, several protesters were arrested.
A local court had ordered the probe following a petition filed by Vishnu Shankar Jain, who alleged that the mosque was built by Mughal Emperor Babar after the demolition of the Harihar temple.
Considering the communal sensitivity of the area, authorities are taking significant precautions. The mosque’s history includes an incident in 1976 when an imam was murdered by a member of another community, leading to widespread violence and a month-long curfew.
The mosque is located about 150-200 meters from the ‘Kalki’ temple.
The ruling BJP strongly condemned the stone-pelting incident and warned that those responsible for disrupting law and order would face strict action.
However, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged that the violence surrounding the mosque probe was orchestrated by the BJP, the government and the government “to divert attention from electoral malpractices”.
The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister also alleged that ‘electronic polls were captured’ during the just-concluded by-polls to nine seats in the state and said there would be clarity if the Election Commission could order a forensic probe into the EVMs.
