At least three people were killed Sunday in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, during a clash between protesters and police over a court-ordered survey of a mosque, PTI reported.

The survey, based on a complaint claiming the Mughals demolished a temple to construct the mosque, sparked unrest as hundreds of protesters gathered near the Shahi Jama Masjid to oppose the move.

Sambhal mosque row: Mob turns violent, attacks surveyors

The situation escalated in Sambhal’s Chandausi town as a mob hurled stones and torched vehicles when a team of surveyors arrived to conduct the second survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid. Police used a mild lathi charge and fired tear gas shells to control the unrest after the court-appointed commissioner and six team members entered the mosque around 7 am. The first survey had been carried out on November 19.

Residents attacked police officers, surveyors, and media personnel with stones. Some attackers, wearing veils and armed with sharp stones, struck in the narrow lane leading to the mosque, leaving it strewn with debris.

Sambhal mosque row: SP MP’s father among 34 ‘bound down’ over breach of peace

On the eve of the second survey, the Sambhal district administration detained 34 individuals, including Mamlukur Rahman Barq, father of Samajwadi Party MP Ziaur Rehman Barq. The detentions followed the peaceful conclusion of Friday prayers at the mosque. Subdivisional Magistrate Vandana Mishra stated that those detained were bound down on bonds up to Rs 10 lakh to ensure peace and order.

Police had heightened security, imposed prohibitory orders, and conducted a flag march in anticipation of tensions.

The mosque survey, ordered after a petition alleged that a Harihar temple stood at the site, was conducted under the direction of the court. Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the petitioner, stated that the court had instructed an Advocate Commission to carry out videography and photography as part of the survey.

Jain, along with his father Hari Shankar Jain, has previously represented the Hindu side in several religious disputes, including the Gyanvapi mosque-Kashi Vishwanath temple case.

Why is the survey happening at the mosque?

On November 19, local temple priest Rishi Raj Giri, the mahant of Kalka Devi temple in Chandausi, filed an application with a local court requesting a survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid. Giri claimed a temple once stood at the site of the mosque and was demolished by Muslim rulers to construct the mosque in 1529.

Civil Judge (Senior Division) Aditya Singh directed Advocate Commissioner Ramesh Chand Raghav to conduct an initial survey of the mosque to verify the existence of a temple. The court set a deadline for the survey report to be submitted by November 29.

On Tuesday at 6. 15 pm, Raghav, accompanied by a team of Jama Masjid’s managing committee members, the petitioner, and local officials, arrived at the mosque for the first survey.