The signboard, which is currently being held at the Satyavrat police outpost, is expected to soon replace the older display that bore the name "Shahi Jama Masjid" -- a title that locals have long been familiar with.
What did ASI official said?
Speaking to the news agency PTI, ASI’s counsel Vishnu Sharma said an ASI board was earlier installed outside the mosque but was allegedly removed by certain individuals who replaced it with a board calling it 'Shahi Jama Masjid'. "The new board has been issued in accordance with the name recorded in ASI documents, which is 'Juma Masjid'", he added.
Sharma said a similar blue ASI board is already present inside the mosque premises bearing the same name. The ASI has not yet said anything regarding the timing of the installation of the new signboard. The Mughal-era mosque has been at the centre of a major row after a petition claimed it was the site of an ancient Hindu temple. On November 24 last year, violence erupted in Sambhal’s Kot Garvi locality during a survey of the Mughal-era mosque, in which four people were killed, while several others sustained injuries.
Earlier on Tuesday, Samajwadi Party MP Zia ur Rehman Barq arrived at Sambhal police station as he was summoned by the Uttar Pradesh Special Investigation Team (SIT) for his alleged involvement in the violence that broke out at Sambhal's Shahi Jama Masjid during a court-ordered survey of the mosque on November 24, 2024. However, when the media tried to interact with him, Barq refused to give any reply to the questions.
Sabhal violence
It is to be noted here that violence broke out in Sambhal's Shahi Jama Masjid on November 24 last year, which took the lives of four people. The incident had taken place during a survey of the Jama Masjid. Moradabad Police Commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh had confirmed the FIR filed against Zia ur Rehman Barq and the son of a local MLA for their alleged involvement in the Sambhal violence.
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