Meerut, Nov. 27 -- A year after the Sambhal violence of November 24, 2024, the authorities on Wednesday began excavation at the site of a well suspected to be connected to the 1978 riots in the same district which was then part of Moradabad. It was at this well that grocery trader Ramsharan Rastogi's body was allegedly thrown 47 years ago after he was murdered, his family has claimed. The well, situated on public property, lay in disuse for years and had a platform around it. Ramsharan was a local resident and no other member of his family was killed in the riots. The initial toll mentioned in connection with the Sambhal riots of 1978 varied from 15 to 24. Recently, however, the toll has been cited as much higher with a confidential two-part report of a three-member judicial commission, submitted earlier this year to chief minister Yogi Adityanath in connection with the 2024 violence, even mentioning 184 deaths in 1978. The well is located in the main market near the Ekta Police outpost at Mahmud Khan Sarai locality in the Sambhal Kotwali area. District magistrate (DM) Rajendra Pensiya and superintendent of police (SP) Krishan Kumar Bishnoi inspected the area on November 24, 2025, the first anniversary of the 2024 Sambhal violence. During their foot patrol, the officials also interacted with locals, including the deceased trader's nephew, Sushil Rastogi, whose shop stands directly opposite the well in Akbarpur Mandi. Following appeals from the family, the DM and SP instructed city magistrate Sudhir Kumar and Nagar Palika executive officer Manibhushan Tiwari to begin the well's excavation. Acting on their orders, four labourers commenced digging on Wednesday in the presence of both officers. The victim's nephew, Sushil Rastogi, 55, said that his uncle was brutally killed during the 1978 riots and his body disposed of in the well. Sushil said he was a school student at the time and was not an eyewitness. He added that both the DM and SP recently sought details regarding the decades-old incident. The victim's grandson, Kapil Rastogi, had also submitted a formal plea on February 10, 2025, to the SDM and DM, urging authorities to take action. No plea for an excavation was filed before. Ramsharan's grandson Kapil Rastogi, 38, now a resident of Moradabad district, said, "Earlier this year, we were informed by the police that FIR number 136/1978 was registered on March 30, 1978 in connection with my grandfather's murder under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence). The FIR was lodged by my father the late Subhash Chandra Rastogi against unidentified persons. However, police at that time didn't take any further action.". City magistrate Sudhir Kumar confirmed the DM and SP had inspected the well during their Monday foot patrol and subsequently ordered its excavation. "The well holds a very old history and is directly linked to the 1978 riots," he said, noting that Wednesday's work is part of those directives. Violence resurfaced in November 2024 when a court-ordered archaeological survey of the 16th-century Shahi Jama Masjid, allegedly built over a Hindu temple, drew thousands of protesters. Four people were killed and dozens, including policemen, were injured....