Sambhal mosque dispute: Friday prayers held peacefully; SP, Congress delegations to visit district

Friday prayers at Shahi Jama Masjid and other places in this district passed off peacefully amid tight security while Internet services were restored here, days after a violent protest against a court-ordered survey of the Mughal-era mosque claimed four lives.

The district has been put under a tight security blanket with drones in the air, additional police personnel on the ground and CCTV cameras installed near the disputed mosque for proper surveillance. The administration has also imposed prohibitory orders in the district, stopping the entry of outsiders till Saturday.

Ahead of the prayers on Friday, district authorities appealed to the locals to offer their prayers in the nearest mosques rather than gathering at the Shahi Jama Masjid.

“Internet services were restored in Sambhal at 4 pm on Friday,” said District Information Officer Brijesh Kumar.

A 15-member delegation of the Samajwadi Party will visit Sambhal on Saturday to gather information about the violence that broke out last Sunday. A report on the matter would be submitted to party president Akhilesh Yadav. A Congress delegation will visit the district on December 2.

The Supreme Court’s order for the Sambhal trial court to halt proceedings in the case and its survey at Chandausi was welcomed by both parties to the case — the Hindu litigants who claimed that a temple stood at the site and the masjid committee that opposed it.

Earlier in the day, a court here directed the court-appointed commissioner to submit within 10 days the survey report on the mosque and fixed January 8 as the next date of the hearing.

The Divisional Commissioner of Moradabad, Aunjaneya Kumar Singh, said security measures have been reinforced at sensitive religious sites in the area and around the court in Chandausi.