Sambhal: Police on Sunday arrested 10 more people in connection with the November 24 violence near the Shahi Jama Masjid in this Uttar Pradesh district, officials said.

With this, 70 people have so far been arrested in connection with the incident, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Srish Chandra said.

Those arrested were Tahzeeb, Azhar Ali, Asad, Danish, Suhaib, Alam, Mohammad Danish, Shane Alam, Bakir and Mulla Afroz, the officer said, adding that they were nabbed after police scanned CCTV footage and photographs that had gone viral on the social media.

The ASP said Afroz, son of Afzar, is a active member of the Sarik Sata gang that is involved in vehicle and arms trafficking.

He was reportedly present at the scene during the commotion and had allegedly fired at the police party during the chaos.

The bullets struck several individuals, including Bilal and Ayan, who succumbed to their injuries.

Police have seized a .32-bore pistol, three live cartridges and 15 blank cartridges from Afroz's possession.

The arrested accused have been sent to jail, Chandra added.

On November 19, a court in Sambhal had passed an ex-parte order for a survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid by an advocate commissioner, following a plea filed by Hindu petitioners that claimed that the mosque was built by Mughal emperor Babur in 1526 after demolishing a temple.

During a second round of survey of the mosque on November 24 last year, protesting locals clashed with security personnel, leading to the violence that led to the deaths of four people and injuries to dozens.

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Pratapgarh (UP) (PTI): Four people were booked here for the abduction and assault of a man who they allegedly tied to a tree and beat up, police said on Wednesday.

The incident, a video of which has gone viral, took place on Tuesday afternoon under the Kunda police station limits.

The FIR was registered on Wednesday evening based on a complaint from the victim's father.

According to Keshav Prasad Yadav, a resident of Mauli village, some people called his 18-year-old son Nikhil Yadav on the phone and asked him to come out of his house around 2.30 pm on Tuesday.

As he reached outside the village as instructed, the accused allegedly forced him into a car and took him towards the Tinpedwa forest area, where they tied him to a tree and assaulted, the complainant said.

The attackers also recorded a video of the incident and circulated it on social media. The purported video shows the men thrashing Nikhil one after another, while one of them is assumed to have recorded the act.

Kunda Station House Officer Manoj Pandey confirmed the incident and said efforts are underway to identify and arrest all the accused.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has shared the video on social media, describing the incident as reflective of a "dominant mindset" against the PDA (Pichda or Backward, Dalit, and Alpasankhyak or Minority), and demanded strict action against the accused.