BAREILLY: Two additional cases have been imposed against Zafar Ali, president of the Sambhal Jama masjid management committee, who is already in jail over the Nov 2023 Sambhal violence. The police brought him to the chief judicial magistrate's court on Monday, where both old cases — one linked to unauthorised mosque construction in 2018 and another involving alleged threats made in 2020 — came up for hearing.
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The hearing was held under tight security at the chief judicial magistrate's court. A large police contingent was deployed in and around the court premises, with senior officers monitoring the movement closely. According to officials, both cases had been under investigation for several years and were formally chargesheeted only recently.
Ali's first case dates back to Jan 2018, when an assistant sub-inspector at Kotwali Sambhal filed a complaint alleging that Ali had carried out unauthorised construction at the Shahi Jama mosque. The FIR mentioned the installation of railings and other structures without obtaining due permission. Authorities had issued multiple objections over the additions, but construction continued.
The second case, filed on April 3, 2020, during the Covid lockdown, was based on a complaint from Maulana Muin Ashraf. He alleged that Ali had threatened him during a dispute. Based on the complaint, police booked Ali under IPC sections 504 (intentional insult) and 506 (criminal intimidation).