Lucknow – The Uttar Pradesh government has ordered a judicial inquiry into the recent violence in Sambhal that resulted in four deaths during a court-ordered survey of a disputed religious site. The three-member committee, announced by the Uttar Pradesh Home Department on Thursday, will be headed by retired High Court judge Devendra Kumar Arora.

The committee will investigate whether the November 24 violence, which occurred during the second survey of the Jama Masjid, was a pre-planned conspiracy or a spontaneous criminal incident. The inquiry will also examine the extent of injuries sustained by police personnel and damage to property during the incident. The committee has been given two months to submit its report.

The survey, part of a court-ordered examination into the disputed site, began around 7 a.m. on November 24. A crowd gathered at the site, initially shouting slogans before pelting stones at the police team. According to police reports, three groups of stone pelters began the attack as the survey team was leaving the site. The violence escalated when some individuals attempted to vandalize and set fire to vehicles, leading to gunfire in which three youths were killed.

Sambhal District Magistrate Rajendra Painsia stated that the survey was proceeding peacefully until the stone-pelting began. He emphasized that the survey was being conducted within the court-ordered timeframe and that the Jama Masjid Committee was cooperating with the process.

The Supreme Court ordered the survey after a petition was filed claiming that the Jama Masjid was built on the site of a destroyed Harihar temple. Vishnu Shankar Jain argued that Mughal Emperor Babar destroyed the Harihar temple to build the mosque.