Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav lashed out at the BJP, saying the ruling party, government and the administration orchestrated the violence ‘to divert attention from electoral malpractice’.According to the local administration, a second survey by an “Advocate Commissioner” as part of a court-ordered examination into the disputed site started around 7 am and a crowd began gathering there.”Some miscreants in the crowd threw stones at the police team. The police used minor force and tear gas to bring the situation under control,” Superintendent of Police Krishna Kumar Vishnoi said.He said those who engaged in stone pelting and those who incited them will be identified and action taken against them.”We are in the process of registering an FIR in the incident. The accused will also be booked under the NSA,” the police officer added.District officials said the survey work was planned in the morning to avoid interference with prayers in the mosque that is usually held in the afternoon.The survey team concluded its work for the day shortly after the stone pelting incident occurred.District Magistrate Rajendra Pesia said, “Some miscreants resorted to stone pelting but the situation is peaceful now.” “Around 10 people have been detained in connection with the stone-pelting incident. They are being interrogated,” he added.Uttar Pradesh police chief Prashant Kumar told PTI that the situation was under control in Sambhal.”We are monitoring everything. All police and civil administration officials are handling the situation on the spot. They are patrolling those areas. Anti-social elements will be identified very soon and strict action will be taken against them,” the director general of police (DGP) said.Videos of youths throwing stones at police, purportedly near the site of the survey in Sambhal have surfaced on the Internet.Additional police units have been deployed near the mosque to ensure law and order and officials are closely monitoring the situation.At a press conference in Lucknow, Akhilesh Yadav said, “A serious incident occurred in Sambhal. A survey team was deliberately sent in the morning to disrupt discussions about the elections.The intention was to create chaos so that no debate on election issues could happen.” “I don’t want to go into the legal or procedural aspects, but the other side was not even heard. This was intentionally done to provoke emotions and avoid discussions on election rigging,” he said.”What happened in Sambhal was orchestrated by the BJP, the government and the administration to divert attention from electoral malpractices,” the former UP chief minister alleged.On Saturday, the Sambhal district administration bound down 34 people on a bond of up to Rs 10 lakh on apprehension of a breach of peace.Subdivisional Magistrate Vandana Mishra told PTI on Saturday that among the people bound down is Mamlukur Rahman Barq, the father of the Samajwadi Party’s Sambhal MP Zia ur Rahman Barq.Supreme Court lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, who is a petitioner in the case, had said the Court of Civil Judge (Senior Division) ordered the constitution of an “Advocate Commission” to survey the mosque.
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