Overview

• The three-member judicial commission led by retired judge D.K. Arora submitted a roughly 450-page report to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on August 28, with officials calling it confidential pending formal review.
• According to government sources, the document catalogs about 15 communal riots since Independence and reports a sharp demographic change in Sambhal, with the Hindu share falling from roughly 45% to around 15%.
• Officials and sources say the report and allied case materials describe the November 24 unrest during a court-ordered ASI survey as premeditated, involving outside participants, radical networks and illegal arms, with foreign-made weapons recovered by the SIT.
• Adityanath said the files reveal how a conspiracy for riots unfolded and praised police for preventing a wider tragedy, while minister Gulab Devi publicly raised concerns over the reported population decline.
• Local Muslim clerics and some legal representatives questioned the demographic claims and the government’s portrayal of the findings, urging that the full report be made public for verification.