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Superintendent of police (SP) Krishan Bishnoi said that during interrogation, Mohd Ghulam admitted to receiving instructions from gangster Shariq Satha over the phone to incite violence and target the lawyer who had petitioned for the survey at the Sambhal mosque
The rioters were fed with the propaganda that the mosque is 500 years old and related to their ‘ancestor’ Babur, and it was their religious duty to protect the structure, Bishnoi added. File pic/PTI
Sambhal police on Thursday arrested Mohd Ghulam, a key associate of Dubai-based gangster Shariq Satha, for allegedly plotting to kill Supreme Court lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain during the violence that erupted amid the second round of the Shahi Jama Masjid survey on November 24 last year.
A large cache of foreign-made arms and ammunition was also recovered from Ghulam, police said.
एसपी संभल का बड़ा खुलासा:24 नवंबर संभल दंगों के एक उपद्रवी गुलाम ने कबूल किया:•दंगे पूर्व-नियोजित थे।•योजना हिंदू पक्ष के वकील विष्णु शंकर जैन की हत्या करने की थी।•हथियार दिए गए थे, साथ में उनकी तस्वीर भी।•जैन को निशाना बनाकर पूरे देश में प्रतिशोधी हिंसा फैलाने की साजिश… pic.twitter.com/MA9RQCAJne
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Superintendent of police (SP) Krishan Bishnoi said that during interrogation, Ghulam admitted to receiving instructions from Satha over the phone to incite violence and target the lawyer who had petitioned for the survey.
“Ghulam orchestrated the unrest by directing his associates, Mullah Afroz and Mohd Waris, to attack protesters and escalate the situation. The ammunition recovered from Ghulam matched the foreign-made bullet casings found at the crime scenes where four people were killed,” said the SP Bishnoi.
Ghulam has 20 cases registered against him at Sambhal, nearby districts, and even Delhi-NCR.
A total of 79 individuals have been arrested so far in the violence case.
Explaining that the violence was planned, the SP said, “Ghulam talked to his boss Sarik Satha on November 23 and decided to not let the survey happen on the next day.”
Bishnoi said Satha enjoyed political patronage in the past, including that of former Samajwadi Party member of parliament (MP) Shafiqur Rehman Barq.
The rioters were fed with the propaganda that the mosque is 500 years old and related to their “ancestor” Babur, and it was their religious duty to protect the structure, Bishnoi added