Notably, Zafar Ali has been languishing in Moradabad district court as he was arrested on March 23 in connection with November 24 violence which had rocked Sambhal during a court-ordered survey of Shahi Jama Masjid leading to the loss of five lives and leaving scores injured including the cops. The violence had broken out after a protesting mob objected to the survey of Shahi Jama Masjid and resorted to stone pelting on law enforcement agencies and vandalism. Sambhal Kotwali incharge Anuj Tomar confirmed the action against the members of Zafar Ali’s family. Meanwhile, the hearing on the bail plea of Zafar Ali was postponed to April 4 due to unavailability of the case diary. Zafar Ali was arrested as he was found to have played an incendiary role during the violence, last year, said the police authorities. Earlier, Ali’s bail plea was set for hearing on March 27 when the ADJ-II court of judge Nirbhay Narayan Rai in Chandausi had refused him interim bail posting the matter for April 2 as the date for hearing his regular bail application. The defence lawyer, on Wednesday, sought the court to grant interim bail to Zafar Ali in the absence of case diary but the prosecution said that interim bail plea was already rejected by the court. “The court accepted the argument and rejected the application for interim bail,” said additional district government advocate Hariom Prakash Saini. The court then asked the prosecution to present the case diary on Friday, April 4. The dispute over the Shahi Jama Masjid of Sambhal arose when the local court ordered a survey of the mosque to ascertain if it was built over a pre-existing Harihar temple as the court was hearing a petition in this regard. Meanwhile, members of the Sambhal District Bar Association decided that none of them would enter the court premises till Ali was freed. “We will continue our agitation till the exploitation of our respected leader and advocate Zafar Ali and his family by the police and local administration continues,” Mohammed Shahid, a lawyer, said.
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