Sambhal District Magistrate said to maintain peace and order, the imposition of Section 163 of the BNSS in the district has been extended to Dec 31

Several Samajwadi Party (SP) lawmakers, including its Sambhal MP, were stopped from entering the violence-hit Sambhal district on Saturday as the administration extended a ban on the entry of outsider

In order to maintain law and order the Sambhal district administration has prohibited the entry of outsiders till December 10.

The situation in Sambhal has been tense since the first survey of the city's Jama Masjid was conducted on November 19 on the orders of a local court. The petitioner has claimed that Jama Masjid stands on a previous Harihar temple.

Tension had been brewing in Sambhal since November 19 when the court-ordered survey of the Mughal-era mosque was carried out following claims that a Harihar temple previously stood at the site

A Samajwadi Party delegation heading to violence-hit Sambhal were detained after the district administration prohibited the entry of outsiders there till December 10, drawing criticism from its chief Akhilesh Yadav.

The Sambhal district administration has imposed a ban on the entry of outsiders until December 10 to maintain peace, amid tensions following a survey

On his visit to Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh Assembly LoP and Samajwadi party leader Mata Prasad Pandey asserted that Sambhal DM asked him not to visit there. On Saturday, Pandey criticised the administration for deploying police outside his residence without notice.