In a major breakthrough in the ongoing investigation into the Sambhal violence, the Sambhal Police arrested wanted accused Ghulam on February 20. Addressing the media, Sambhal SP Krishan Kumar Vishnoi revealed that Ghulam confessed to a conspiracy to assassinate advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain during the violence on November 24, 2024.
According to SP Vishnoi, Ghulam disclosed that Shariq Satha, the mastermind behind the violence, and his gang had previously enjoyed political patronage, which allowed them to operate freely in the Deepa Sarai area of Sambhal.
However, due to strict police action, their criminal activities have become difficult to continue. Ghulam admitted that he was shown a picture of advocate Jain for identification and was instructed by his leaders to eliminate him under the cover of violence.
Criminal Network and Arms Smuggling
Ghulam, who has a long history of criminal activities, was responsible for supplying weapons to the attackers during the violence. SP Vishnoi revealed that Ghulam has around 20 criminal cases pending against him in multiple districts, including Sambhal.
Investigations further uncovered that Ghulam had a conversation with Satha on November 23, 2024, a day before the violence. During this conversation, Satha was informed by a local source about the court-mandated survey of the Sambhal Jama Masjid scheduled for November 24.
Additionally, Ghulam disclosed that Satha operates an automobile theft gang in the Delhi-NCR region while managing operations from abroad. Ghulam runs the gang on Satha’s behalf, stealing vehicles from NCR and smuggling them to northeastern states and the India-Myanmar border in Manipur.
These stolen vehicles are then exchanged for weapons. The police recovered a large cache of arms from Ghulam, including firearms manufactured in Germany, the UK, and Czechoslovakia. He was actively involved in smuggling these weapons across the country. So far, the police have arrested 79 people in connection with the Sambhal violence.
Sambhal Violence: A Planned Attack
On November 24, 2024, during a court-mandated survey at Jama Masjid, an Islamist mob gathered outside the mosque and engaged in violent clashes. The rioters pelted stones at police, opened fire on security personnel, and set vehicles and shops on fire.
At least 20 police personnel were injured, and four rioters were killed, likely due to illegal firearms used during the chaos.
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