Bareilly: Supreme Court (SC) on Monday granted bail to three men — Mohd Rashid, Mohd Faizan and Mohd Danish — accused of rioting in Sambhal during a court-ordered survey of Shahi Jama Masjid on Nov 24 last year.Advocate Tauseef Ahmed told TOI: “The Allahabad high court had earlier rejected their bail plea. The trio, all locals, was charged in a case linked to the clashes that erupted after rumours spread about the mosque’s ablution tank being tampered with. The FIR was lodged by the cops themselves, but initially their names were not included. They were later added in the chargesheet. The state also submitted CCTV footage in court, but the accused were not seen in the video.“Ahmed, who is representing the trio in the court, added, “They were also accused of snatching a gun from the cops. However, nothing was found on them after their arrest…”Two of the accused challenged the May order of the Allahabad HC, wherein the judge dismissed their plea for bail.In Nov 2024, a court in Chandausi had ordered the mosque survey. An advocate commissioner and officials were appointed to carry out the task. However, violence erupted on Nov 24 during the second phase of the survey. Protesters allegedly pelted stones at police, who responded with force, leading to widespread unrest. Vehicles were torched, shots were fired and at least five people were killed.After the violence, a special investigation team filed a 4,000-page chargesheet in six of the 12 cases related to the incident. Sambhal MP Zia ur Rehman Barq and MLA Iqbal Mahmood’s son, Sohail Iqbal, were named in the FIR. While the court stayed Barq’s arrest, it did not quash the FIR. More than 96 people, including mosque committee head Zafar Ali, were also jailed. Ali was later granted bail.
