Sambhal advocates maintain pen-down protest towards arrest of Jama Masjid committee president

Advocates protest towards the arrest of Shahi Jama Masjid President Zafar Ali, at a neighborhood court docket in Sambhal on March 24, 2025.
| Picture Credit score: PTI

A piece of legal professionals in Sambhal on Monday (March 24, 2025) staged a pen-down protest towards the arrest of the Shahi Jama Masjid committee president and senior lawyer Zafar Ali in reference to the November 24 violence.

The advocates group which held protests in all courts underneath the Sambhal district alleged that the arrest was an try to forestall him from testifying earlier than a judicial fee investigating the incident.

“Varied courts underneath Sambhal district like Chandousi, Gunnaur, and Sambhal remained closed right now as a part of the strike. There was no FIR towards him, but he was despatched to jail underneath unspecified prices. It is a wrongful act by the police,” stated Mohammad Nazar Qureshi, president of the Chandousi Court docket Bar Affiliation in Sambhal.

Advocates additionally raised slogans towards Zafar Ali’s arrest.

Amid the strain, the police performed a flag march in some elements of Sambhal. Within the areas across the Shahi Jama Masjid and Mr. Ali’s residence, police personnel together with the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC), and Speedy Motion Pressure (RAF) remained current on Monday (March 24, 2025), to regulate any protest.

Incendiary function

Mr. Ali, himself an advocate and the president of the managing committee of Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal, was arrested on March 23 in reference to the violence, with police claiming they’d gathered proof that he performed an incendiary function through the violence final 12 months. “We gathered proof that he performed an incendiary function through the violence final 12 months,” stated Krishna Kumar, Superintendent of Police (SP), Sambhal.

Mr. Ali has been on the forefront of the dispute and had alleged throughout a press convention after the November 24 violence that those that died had fallen sufferer to police firing.

Sambhal, a city in western Uttar Pradesh, witnessed violence on November 24, the second day of the Shahi Jama Masjid survey after a neighborhood court docket ordered it. Folks gathered close to the mosque clashed with Uttar Pradesh Police personnel, resulting in heavy stone pelting and allegations that the cops opened hearth. The Uttar Pradesh Police claimed they solely used ‘gentle drive’ to regulate the state of affairs.

5 individuals died and several other others had been injured within the clashes. Uttar Pradesh police denied prices that it fired on the protesters.