New Delhi: What is Pakistan’s connection with the violence in Sambhal? With this far-fetched postulation, several media groups went on an overdrive on Wednesday (December 4) after the police in Uttar Pradesh claimed to have found a used cartridge manufactured in Pakistan from the scene of November 24’s violent incident in which five Muslim men were killed.
Not stopping there, some Hindi websites, using the police’s claims as a base, even went ahead and speculated about the alleged ‘foreign funding’ angle to the violence that took place during a controversial survey of the Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid to ascertain if it was built on the remains of a temple.
On Tuesday evening, Krishan Kumar Bishnoi, Sambhal superintendent of police, said that they had recovered six cartridges from a drain close to a site where a body was found after the incident. Out of the six cartridges, five were ‘fired cases’ while one was a ‘misfire’, said the officer.
The cartridges included a fired case marked POF 9mm 68-26, made in Pakistan, said Bishnoi. POF stands for Pakistan Ordnance Factory.
“The Pakistan Ordnance Factory weapon definitely shows this is a very serious matter,” Bishnoi told reporters after a search operation of the crime scene which included cleaning of a drain. The police also said a forensics team and the local municipal corporation had found a 12 mm winchester bore cartridge made in the United States of America from the site of the violence.
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“None of these bores recovered belong to the [weapons used by the] police,” said Bishnoi.
The SP said that the cartridges would be analysed by ballistics experts and sent to a forensic lab.
While he described the recoveries a “sensitive matter,” the officer said it was “not a big deal in Sambhal.” The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has from time to time conducted raids in Sambhal and many criminals from there are now located in Dubai, said the officer, suggesting that the aspect of arms smuggling would also be investigated.
Soon after Bishnoi claimed to have recovered a cartridge made in Pakistan, television channels and news websites started speculating about the Pakistan link behind the Sambhal incident.
“Suspicion of foreign funding behind the violence. US-made cartridges found in a drain along with Pakistan-made cartridges,” read the headline in popular Hindi website Dainik Jagran. The Jagran story speculated without any source that the recovery proved that the violence was a “planned conspiracy.” It also reported, without any attribution, that the central agencies could join the probe and that the police were investigating the angle of foreign funding.
Prominent news channel, News18, sought to directly link India’s neighbouring country to the violence in Sambhal. “Pakistan’s hand in Sambhal violence,” read their headline on their Youtube channel. Another news website highlighted the “Pakistan connection” of the Sambhal violence. “Made in Pak bullets and cartridges found near the Shahi Jama Masjid,” said its headline.
Rakesh Tripathi, BJP spokesperson said these weapons showed there were items kept ready by some elements to “start a civil war” in India with the help of the weapons made by the Pakistan army. Tripathi demanded that action be taken against those who fired at the police with “Pakistani weapons” under anti-terrorism laws. “These are traitors,” he said.
Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak also highlighted the recovery of the cartridge shells originating in Pakistan. “The matter is being investigated. Whoever is involved will not be spared,” said Pathak.
When Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav was asked to comment on the issue by reporters in Delhi, he said the recovery of the foreign-origin shells was a “work of wonder” of the Uttar Pradesh police. He also asked the Uttar Pradesh police to reveal which weapons they use.
“The truth is that the police under the BJP do these things to falsely implicate people. The police are only trapping people, not giving them justice,” said Yadav.
