Riot-hit Sambhal gets hi-tech police post on Ram Navami built with bricks thrown by protestors

A new police outpost opened Sunday across from Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal. The two-story Satyavrat outpost features multiple rooms and a watchtower. Officials inaugurated the building on Ram Navami with a prayer ritual and ribbon-cutting, a TOI report stated.

The outpost, constructed in approximately 100 days, houses a CCTV control room for the “Safe City Sambhal” project. It also displays a Bhagavad Gita verse, “Yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata…,” and a marble chariot at the entrance.

Some bricks used in construction came from debris of a protest that occurred during a court-ordered survey of the Jama Masjid on November 24, 2023. Five people died, and several police officers were injured in the violence.


District Magistrate Rajender Pensiya stated, “There is a mixed population in Sambhal. This outpost is built at midpoint. It has a watch tower - the highest point in the town - and has a CCTV control room for the 'Safe City Sambhal' project. The outpost's design is not any religion specific but inspired from the Constitution of India which also has several such images. For instance, the handwritten document of the Constitution has a sketch of Lord Ram at the commencement of the chapter on Fundamental Rights…”

Superintendent of Police Krishan Kumar Bishnoi said, “This is the district's first hi-tech police outpost, where staff equivalent to a police station will be deployed. Additional forces will be present. It has been developed to enhance security. The district's control room will be located in this outpost. All CCTV cameras in Sambhal will be monitored from here.”

A temple in Khaggu Sarai also reopened on Ram Navami after 46 years.