The Sambhal police have filed a massive chargesheet, over 4,000 pages long, against 79 people arrested for the violence that took place on November 24, 2024, during protests against the Jama Masjid survey. The chargesheet was submitted to the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court on Thursday and identifies a Dubai-based international auto-lifter as the mastermind behind the unrest.

The accused are charged with rioting, arson, and firing, with investigations uncovering connections to organised crime and foreign funding. The chargesheet includes six cases related to the violence, which resulted in five deaths and injuries to 30 police officers. Among those arrested are three women. One of the accused, a woman named Farhana, was released due to a lack of evidence against her. SP Sambhal said, "The filing of chargesheets in cases pertaining to the violence from the previous year has started," according to Krishan Kumar Bishnoi. “In a few cases concerning attacks on police personnel, the chargesheet was submitted in court on Thursday,” he told HT.

Investigations have uncovered that Shariq Satha, a fugitive auto-lifter based in Dubai, was behind the violence. His role became clear after the arrests of his two associates, Mulla Afroz and Mohammad Waris. A senior police official stated that Satha planned the unrest as part of a conspiracy to assert his dominance in the region. On Thursday, the police arrested Ghulam, another associate accused of smuggling foreign weapons.

According to the police, Ghulam has 20 criminal cases registered against him in Sambhal. So far, 12 FIRs have been registered in the case. These include four filed by the families of seven people who lost their lives and one by an injured victim. A special investigation team (SIT) is currently handling the investigation. 

An FIR has been registered against MP Ziaur Rahman Barq, Sohail Iqbal (son of MLA Iqbal Mahmood), and 37 others, along with 3,750 unidentified individuals. However, the police have not yet filed a chargesheet against the MP. According to police sources, Satha has been running a car theft racket and is responsible for stealing over 300 vehicles from Delhi NCR before escaping to Dubai in 2020. He is also suspected of having connections with underworld figure Dawood Ibrahim and Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI.

Investigators believe Satha played a role in the Sambhal violence after noticing unusual money transfers to accounts in Sambhal and finding foreign-made cartridges at the crime scene. His associates are suspected of firing the shots that killed four of the five victims. However, no FIR was registered for the fifth fatality. The clashes started after a Hindu group filed a petition in Chandausi’s civil court on November 19, claiming that the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal was originally the Shri Harihar Temple. Following this, officials conducted a two-phase survey of the mosque—first on November 19 and then again on November 24. During the second survey, tensions rose as thousands of people gathered at the site, resulting in violent clashes.