FIR against 5 relatives of Sambhal masjid panel head ‘to prevent breach of peace’

The police in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal on Tuesday filed a first information report against five family members of Zafar Ali, the chairperson of the district’s Shahi Jama Masjid management committee, to “prevent breach of peace or disturbance of public tranquillity”, The Indian Express reported on Thursday.

Zafar Ali was arrested on March 23 for allegedly inciting a mob during communal clashes that broke out in Sambhal on November 24 during a court-ordered survey of the mosque, to determine whether a Hindu temple had existed there. Five persons were killed in the clashes.

On Tuesday, a case was registered against Zafar Ali’s family members under sections of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita related to security for keeping peace in other cases and inquiry as to the truth of information, the newspaper quoted unidentified police officers as saying.

The family members against whom the FIR was filed were Zafar Ali’s son Haider Ali, his brothers Tahir Ali and Qamar Hasan, and his nephews Mohammed Danish and Mohammed Mujib.

All five men are lawyers in the Chandausi court.

The men were “bound down” with a surety of Rs 1 lakh each, the police officers added. This means that if they were found to be involved in any verbal or physical actions that could disrupt peace, they would be required to pay...

Read more