The Uttar Pradesh Police have filed a chargesheet against Samajwadi Party MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq and 22 others in a case relating to the violence that erupted in Sambhal district in November, The Indian Express reported on Friday.

Barq has been accused of inciting the crowd by giving allegedly provocative speeches, said a statement issued by the police in Sambhal on Wednesday.

The statement said that “some anti-social elements, criminals and certain political people to claim political relevance incited violence at the Shahi Jama Masjid” on November 24.

The police claimed that they had found that allegedly inflammatory speeches and incitement to violence led to the clashes, which resulted in arson, the throwing of stones and damage to public and private property, The Indian Express reported.

“We have sent 92 people into judicial custody and are collecting evidence,” the newspaper quoted the statement as having said. “The investigation is still ongoing, and soon, others involved will be arrested.”

On November 24, violence broke out in Sambhal after a group of Muslims objected to a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid in Chandausi town.

A trial court had ordered the survey in a suit claiming that the mosque had been built in 1526 by Mughal ruler Babar on the site of the “centuries-old Shri Hari Har Temple dedicated to Lord Kalki”.

Five persons were killed in the violence during the survey.

The police said that the chargesheet was submitted in the special MP/MLA court of the civil judge (senior division) at the Sambhal district and sessions court in Chandausi in connection with a first information report filed at the Kotwali Sambhal police station, the newspaper reported.

The Uttar Pradesh Police had accused Barq of inciting a mob for political gain which led to violent clashes. They alleged in an FIR that Barq visited the Shahi Jama Masjid days before the incident without permission, offered prayers and delivered provocative speeches.

Twelve FIRs were filed after the violence and a Special Investigation Team was formed to look into the matter.

Barq has denied the allegations, stating he was in Bengaluru at the time of the clashes.

“I was not even in the state, let alone Sambhal,” he had said after the violence. “This is a conspiracy by the police and administration.”

He had earlier criticised the court-ordered survey, stating that the mosque is a historic site. “The Supreme Court had ruled that religious places as they existed in 1947 must remain unchanged as per the Places of Worship Act, 1991,” he said.

On March 25, the Sambhal Police had served a notice to Barq over his alleged involvement in the matter. In April, the Samajwadi Party MP was questioned for about four hours by the SIT.

On Thursday, Superintendent of Police Krishan Kumar Vishnoi confirmed that Barq had been charged in the case, The Hindu reported.

“The charge sheet details that late-night conversations took place between Barq and Zafar Ali, the president of Shahi Jama Masjid,” the newspaper quoted him as having said. “They were responsible for gathering the crowd on November 22, two days prior to the widespread violence.”

The chargesheet was based on “extensive evidence” gathered during the investigation, he added.

On January 3, the Allahabad High Court had stayed Barq’s arrest but declined to quash the FIR filed against him and others at Kotwali police station. The court ruled that the investigation would proceed and ordered Barq to cooperate with authorities.

Also read: