The Sambhal administration on Tuesday booked five members of Shahi Jama Masjid Managing Committee President Zafar Ali’s family, days after he was arrested by the SIT of the Uttar Pradesh Police in connection with the 2024 protests against the survey of the mosque and the police violence that followed.
The police stated that Ali’s son Haider Ali, his brothers Tahir Ali and Qamar Hasan, and his nephews Mohammed Danish and Mohammed Mujib—who are all lawyers at the Chandausi court—were required to provide a surety of ₹1 lakh each under BNSS sections (security for keeping peace in other cases) and 135 (inquiry as to the truth of information).
“This was done as a precaution to prevent any breach of peace,” said the police.
“The decision has been taken in a bid to ensure peace in the town in the wake of the Eid and Navratri festivals,” said Vandana Mishra, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Sambhal district.
Meanwhile, the bail hearing for Shahi Jama Masjid President Zafar Ali was deferred to April 4 “due to the unavailability of the case diary.”
Earlier on Thursday, the district court rejected his interim bail plea.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.