Girl, 8, inaugurates police outpost in Sambhal that saw violence over mosque

Sambhal: While her peers had Ram Navami feasts in the neighbourhood, eight-year-old Gungun Kashyap was invited on Sunday to inaugurate a police outpost near the Shahi Jama Masjid – the site of the last year's violent confrontation.

Gungun, a resident of the Kot Garvi area, which flared up last November, inaugurated the Satyavrat Police Outpost by cutting a ribbon.

The event was marked by the presence of Sambhal District Magistrate Rajender Pensiya, Superintendent of Police Krishan Kumar Vishnoi, Additional SP (North) Shrish Chandra, Sambhal Circle Office Anuj Chaudhary, Asmoli Circle Officer Kuldeep Singh, and Inspector Anuj Tomar.

After the violence on November 24, several police outposts were announced to keep a tighter vigil in the area.

The foundation stone of Satyavrat Police Post was laid on December 28.

The outpost, which took about 100 days to build, bears the Bhagavad Gita verse: "Yada, Yada Hi Dharmasya Glanirbhavati Bharat..." — a part of the sermon given by Lord Krishna to Arjun on the Kurukshetra battlefield.

The two-storey police post has a satellite tower, district control room, and CCTV cameras.

Pensiya claimed that Sambhal's name was Satyavrat in the Sat Yug, Mahendra Giri in Treta Yug, and Pingal in Dwapar Yug.

The area is sensitive, the most significant in Sambhal tehsil, and the central point of mixed population, that is why this post has been established, he said Vishnoi said the police post assumes significance given the communal history of the place.

He said the post would also double up as a barrack for the PAC personnel deployed in the area.

The latest unit will be used to keep a watch on Kot Purvi, Kot Garvi, and Kot Paschim.

Four people were killed and several others were injured in the clashes that broke out during a mosque survey on November 24.

On December 31 last year, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi alleged that the police outpost near the Shahi Jama Masjid here was being built on Waqf land, a charge denied by the district magistrate.