Investigation into the violence in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, has thrown up a shock. The police said the forensic officials have found cartridge cases — exploded and unexploded — that are made in Pakistan. 

“The team of officers found one 9 mm misfired shell and one shell with PAKISTAN ORDNANCE FACTORY inscribed on it from the spot, the police said.

Besides, two shells of 12 bore and 2 shells of 32 bore guns were recovered, the police said. Officers are currently engaged in the search operation, an officer added.

Several senior police officers have already reached the spot.

The finding is expected to hugely affect the three-member judicial panel which is investigating the violence was pre-planned. 

The committee, set up by the Yogi Adityanath government, in investigating several four key points — whether the violence was spontaneous or the result of a conspiracy, the circumstances leading to it and preparations needed to prevent such incidents.

The committee is headed by retired Allahabad High Court judge Justice Devendra Kumar Arora. The other members are retired IAS officer Amit Mohan Prasad and retired IPS officer Arvind Kumar Jain.

Four persons were killed and many more injured last month as clashes broke out during a court-ordered survey of Sambhal’s Shahi Jama Masjid. The local court had ordered a survey after a petition was filed claiming the presence of a Hindu temple under it as in case of Varanasi and Mathura, 

It triggered perception that the mosque could also be pulled down as happened in Ayodhya and locals had gathered to stop the survey that was to be conducted by the Archaeological Survey of India.