Tight security outside Sambhal's Shahi Jama Masjid for Friday prayers after court plea claims mosque as ancient temple site

Sambhal (UP): Police stepped up security, imposed prohibitory orders and conducted a flag march ahead of Friday prayers at Jama Masjid here following claims that the Mughal-era mosque was originally the site of an ancient temple significant to the Hindu faith.

The mosque was surveyed on Tuesday on the orders of a local court following a petition that claimed that a Harihar temple originally stood at the site.

The Central government, the Uttar Pradesh government, the Masjid Committee and the district magistrate of Sambhal have been made parties in the petition, Supreme Court lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, who is also the petitioner, said on Tuesday.

In view of the petition and subsequent survey, police conducted a flag march in the area and warned people of strict action against anyone creating chaos over the issue, Sambhal Superintendent of Police Krishna Kumar Vishnoi said.

"Clerics have been told to inform everyone that they should offer Namaz in their own mosques," he said, adding that social media was also being closely monitored.

District Magistrate Rajendra Pesia said that prohibitory orders have been imposed in the area preventing the gathering of more than five people.

Lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, who had filed the petition in court for a survey of the mosque, has claimed that Mughal emperor Babar partly demolished the temple in 1529.

"The Harihar temple in Sambhal, we all know, is a central part of our faith. This is an ASI-protected area. There can be no encroachment of any kind in the ASI-protected area. There are many signs and symbols there which are of Hindu temple," he had said.

Vishnu Shankar Jain and his father Hari Shankar Jain have represented the Hindu side in many cases related to places of worship, including the Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath dispute.

Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq had objected to the developments.

"The Jama Masjid of Sambhal is historical and very old. The Supreme Court had given the order in 1991 that whatever religious places are there in whatever condition since 1947, they will remain at their places," he had said.