MEERUT, Dec. 31 -- Security has been intensified in Sambhal with the deployment of police, Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and Rapid Response Force (RRF) personnel ahead of a major anti-encroachment drive near the cemetery adjacent to the Shahi Jama Masjid.

Ahead of the anti-encroachment drive, the revenue department on Tuesday conducted a detailed measurement of graveyard land in the Kot Purvi locality, near a disputed religious site, under tight security. Officials said the demarcation showed that 22 houses and shops had allegedly been constructed by encroaching on plot number 32/2, a 4,780-square-metre area recorded as a graveyard in revenue records.

Additional Superintendent of Police Kuldeep Singh said that in view of the law-a...