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The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Uttar Pradesh Police has submitted chargesheet spanning over 4,400 pages in six cases related to the deadly November 24 violence in Sambhal.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Uttar Pradesh Police has submitted chargesheet spanning over 4,400 pages in six cases related to the deadly November 24 violence in Sambhal. Officials revealed that the mastermind behind the riots was Shariq Satha, a Sambhal native currently believed to be in the UAE. The violence claimed five lives and left several others wounded.
Satha running a car theft racket that looted over 300 vehicles from Delhi-NCR, is allegedly linked to underworld kingpin Dawood Ibrahim and Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI. Authorities disclosed that he fled India using a forged passport.
On Thursday, Circle Officer Kuldeep Kumar and Additional District Government Counsel Hari Om Prakash formally presented the chargesheets before Chief Judicial Magistrate Archana Singh. The documents name 79 individuals, all of whom are in custody, charged under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Sambhal Superintendent of Police (SP) Krishan Kumar Bishnoi stated, "Satha’s involvement came to light during the investigation, and based on evidence recovered by us, we can say that he orchestrated the violence. Chargesheets include members of Satha’s gang. This is the first lot of chargesheets, and we will file a supplementary chargesheet as the investigation progresses."
Investigators also found a trail of suspicious financial transactions to account holders in Sambhal, alongside the recovery of foreign-manufactured cartridges from the violence sites. According to officers, Satha’s associates were responsible for the gunfire that resulted in four of the five fatalities. Strangely, no First Information Report (FIR) was filed for the fifth death.
When asked about the chargesheet implicating Samajwadi Party MP Ziaur Rahman Barq and local MLA Iqbal Mahmood’s son, Suhail Iqbal, a senior officer—on the condition of anonymity—disclosed, “Satha has good political connections in Sambhal and neighboring districts. We are scanning the role of all the suspects named in the FIR, and a chargesheet will be submitted in that case after the investigation is completed.”
The deadly clashes erupted during a court-ordered Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) inspection of the Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid. The police have registered seven FIRs, while the families of the deceased have filed four more against unidentified individuals. Additionally, an injured survivor has lodged a separate FIR against unidentified suspects of Turkic descent.
SIT officers have widened the probe, particularly after recovering bullets manufactured in Pakistan and the United States, raising concerns about possible foreign involvement in the violence.
The list of accused includes 37 named individuals—among them Barq and Iqbal—as well as a staggering 3,750 unidentified suspects.
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