In Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, the district police want to soon petition the local court to begin the process of attaching the belongings of over 70 defendants in cases involving the violence at the Sambhal mosque.
Despite issuing non-bailable warrants in relation to the violence that transpired during a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal town on November 24, the police have been unable to find them.
Posters of the 74 accused have been displayed by the police in a number of places around the town, including on the wall of the controversial mosque.
Nevertheless, no one depicted in the posters has been located. Police got the images of the accused from CCTV footage, mobile phone films, and other sources, Indian Express reported.
Since the police raids started after the incident, many of the accused have left the town, leaving their homes locked, making it difficult for the police to capture them.
The violence that broke out on Sambhal's streets in November claimed four lives and injured numerous others, including police officers.
“Most of the accused we are trying to trace have settled in nearby districts with their families after locking their houses since last November. We will soon approach the local court to initiate the legal process of attachment of their properties with the hope that they will be forced to surrender so that our investigation can be completed,” said Kuldeep Kumar, Deputy Superintendent of Police (crime).
The attachment procedure will commence for persons identified in First Information Reports (FIRs) lodged at the Nakhasa police station. Non-bailable warrants have been issued against 24 listed suspects. Only nine people have been arrested so far.
The police will pursue additional legal action against 15 other people who have gone missing, they said. On February 21, the Sambhal police submitted a chargesheet to the local court for six of the twelve FIRs filed in connection with the violence.
The chargesheet does not mention either local Samajwadi Party MP Zia ur Rehman Barq or Sohail Iqbal, the son of local SP MLA Iqbal Mehmood.
On November 26, the police charged Zia ur Rehman Barq and Sohail Iqbal. The MP was accused of encouraging violence by making provocative statements before the outbreak of violence. He was also accused of joining a mob that attacked police officers and set fire to both private and government vehicles.
According to the police chargesheet, the guns and cartridges retrieved at the site of violence and other sites show stamps suggesting that they were manufactured in Pakistan or the United Kingdom, USA, Germany, and Czechoslovakia.
Chargesheet for Zia ur Rehman Barq's case to be filed soon
“We are currently awaiting additional details regarding the WhatsApp messages from the mobile phones of the MP, and we are gathering more evidence about the involvement of the MLA’s son in the violence. The chargesheets for their cases will be filed soon,” said Krishan Kumar, Superintendent of Police (SP), Sambhal, after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) filed a 4,025-page chargesheet in the court of Judicial Magistrate Archana Singh.
The SIT required 87 days to conclude its probe into six of the twelve FIRs. In the cases where charge sheets have been filed with the court, 159 people have been designated as accused. Of these, 80 have already been arrested.
“No innocent person will be persecuted, but all those who were directly or indirectly involved in the violence will be held accountable. We have identified the accused through various means, including CCTV footage, posters of the accused, and interrogations of those arrested, who provided us with the names of local individuals who encouraged them to gather near the site of the violence,” said SP Kumar.
Four of the six incidents in which the charge sheet has been submitted include attacks on police officers or administrative officials. One incident involved a mob setting fire to a police vehicle.
Sanjeev Suman, the Superintendent of Police's Public Relations Officer (PRO), and Anuj Chaudhary, the Kotwali Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), were among the police officials injured by pellets. Umesh Yadav, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), fractured his leg amid the intense stone pelting.
While eleven FIRs were recorded at various police stations in the district, one was lodged in Moradabad and then forwarded to the Sambhal police for further inquiry, according to the authorities.