Sambhal violence: Cong calls incident a 'planned conspiracy'; security tightened outside mosque

The opposition Congress party in India said on Sunday (Nov 24) that the violence in the Uttar Pradesh's (UP) Sambhal district was a "well-planned conspiracy." The violence in Sambhal erupted earlier on Sunday during a survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid. 

Three people died and around two dozen other people were injured. The injured also included police personnel. According to the police, 20 people were taken into custody.

'No citizen in UP is SAFE under Yogi'

In a statement, senior Congress leader Pawan Khera said, "No citizen in Uttar Pradesh is "SAFE" under CM Yogi Adityanath, who gave the reprehensible slogan of "Batenge toh Katenge". This is evident by the highly deplorable incidents of Sambhal today."

Also read | Sambhal violence: Internet suspended, 20 detained after clashes over mosque survey

"The videos of direct firing on protesters in Sambhal depict the horrifying result of a well-planned conspiracy by CM Adityanath and the BJP-RSS," Khera added. 

"We say with full responsibility that the Adityanath administration is squarely responsible for killing innocents and only the BJP-RSS is guilty of setting fire to the peace and harmony of Sambhal," Khera further said.

Before Khera, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in UP of orchestrating the incident to prevent any discussion on election fraud.

Security tightened near mosque following violence

A day after the incident, security was tightened near the Shahi Jama Masjid to prevent order and prevent any escalation of violence in the district.

Visuals from the news agency ANI showed security personnel deployed with two-way radios for communication, firearms, vehicle barriers, and other equipment to maintain security.

Police personnel could be seen patrolling the area.

Cops find bullet shells of different bores

At the incident site, police also found many bullet shells of different bores, a report by the Hindustan Times said.

A police officer said that several kinds of weapons had been recovered from the detained people. "Many shells of different bores have been recovered at the spot where the firing took place," the officer said. 

(With inputs from agencies)