Sambhal, Nov 19 (IANS) The administration in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal remains on heightened alert ahead of the Harihar Temple Parikrama planned for Wednesday, prompting a significant escalation in security measures across the city.

More than 200 Rapid Action Force personnel have been deployed, in addition to traffic police, forces from eight police stations, and four Circle Officers who will be on duty throughout the day.

The entire route and surrounding areas are being closely monitored through drones and an extensive CCTV network.

Drones are operating from a height of nearly 100 metres, with live surveillance coordinated from the control room at Satyavrat police station.

Over 400 CCTV cameras have been installed citywide, while police personnel and barricades have been placed on all three roads leading to the religious site.

The pilgrimage will begin at Maa Kailadevi Dham and proceed toward the disputed site, where devotees will circumambulate the Harihar Temple precincts.

The total distance from the shrine to the disputed location is around 22 kilometres. The journey will initially take place by vehicle until Motinagar village on Ganna Road in the Hayatnagar police station area, from where a two-and-a-half-kilometre-long foot procession will begin, led by saints and sages.

The announcement of the parikrama was made by Mahant Rishiraj Giri of Maa Kailadevi Dham.

However, Zafar Ali, representing the Jama Masjid Intezamia Committee, dismissed the announcement as “completely false”, asserting that such a circumambulation had never taken place at the mosque.

District Magistrate Dr Rajender Pensiya said, “A final decision on permission for the pilgrimage will be taken on November 19.”

The Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal has long been at the heart of a sensitive dispute following claims that it was constructed over the remains of a Shri Hari temple allegedly demolished by Mughal ruler Babur in the early 16th century.

The renewed focus on the site comes just days before the first anniversary of the 2024 Sambhal violence.

On November 24 last year, violence broke out during a court-mandated Archaeological Survey of India survey of the 500-year-old ASI-protected mosque, following allegations regarding its origins. The unrest led to five deaths and left several others injured.

–IANS

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