Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh) [India], August 29 (ANI): Senior Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain has expressed support for the recently submitted report on the violence which took place in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal in 2024, saying that 'multiple international terror modules' are active in the area and are directly linked to the violence.

'So many international terror modules are active in Sambhal and directly linked to the violence, and all these things I have gotten to know are in the report, but I am yet to study this report,' the senior advocate said.

The senior advocate also claimed that the report shows that the 'demographic changes' in the area have revealed the 'suffering' endured by Hindus since Independence.

'The demographic change in Sambhal ever since independence shows the barbarism that the Hindus have had to endure. There have been 15 such riots, which have seen ethnic cleansing. Fundamental rights of Hindus have been violated. Recently, you all saw what happened after the survey, so many temples and wells are being discovered in the region, it proves that Sambhal has been a holy site as per our scriptures,' the senior advocate said.

Claiming that the whole area, especially the Harihar mandir, has been 'forcibly converted,' he further said that there are many 'international terror modules' which are active in the area.

Earlier on Thursday, a three-member panel appointed to investigate the Sambhal violence case submitted its report to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The 450-page report consists of details about the November 2024 Sambhal violence and also touches on the previous riots which took place in the city.

The report also mentions key details about the demographic changes in Sambhal, where, at one point, the Hindu community members comprised 45 per cent, but their number has since decreased to 20 per cent.

According to the report, during independence, 55% of the population was Muslim and 45% Hindu in the Sambhal Nagar Palika area; however, at the present time, the Hindu population has decreased to 15%, whereas the Muslim community has increased to 85%.

On 24 November 2024, violence erupted during a court-ordered Archaeological Survey of India survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal. The violence had resulted in the deaths of four individuals and injuries to several others, including officials and locals. As local Muslims gathered outside the mosque and tensions escalated, police resorted to force and opened fire on the protesters, killing at least four men and injuring several, including officials and locals.

The violence resulted in 12 FIRs and 80 arrests for allegedly pelting stones at police from rooftops. According to the charge sheet, there were 159 total accused in the case. Following the violence, the UP government constituted a three-tier judicial inquiry commission to investigate Sambhal violence. The commission is chaired by retired judge Devendra Arora, former DGP AK Jain and former IAS Amit Mohan Prasad. (ANI)