LUCKNOW, May 22 -- Several revenue records of land in the urban pockets of Sambhal, which has remained at the centre of a controversy following court-ordered surveys of the Shahi Jama Masjid there, were found to be either missing or tampered with and forged, confirmed senior administrative officials on Tuesday. They said an FIR had been lodged after a lekhpal found the discrepancies at the land record room in Moradabad. They suspected these manipulations might have been done so that the actual landowners could not be confirmed. The Sambhal district was carved out of the Moradabad district on July 23, 2012, after a formal announcement was made to this effect on September 28, 2011. The district was formed largely from the Sambhal region of Moradabad and some areas of the Badaun district. The old land records were preserved at the Moradabad land record room. A senior administrative official said the incident came to light when the Sambhal district administration needed some documents, for which the archive records at the land record room in Moradabad had to be searched. He said records pertaining to Sambhal Khas, Sultanpur Bujurg, Tashtpur, Sarai Tareen, Mandalai, Dalavali, etc., had been destroyed. These villages come in Sambhal's urban area, he added. He said Sambhal Khas lekhpal Gyanesh Kumar lodged the FIR in Moradabad under Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 324 (4), 336 (3) and 303 (2). He said other lekhpals found out that the records pertaining to their jurisdictions had been forged or tampered with. Regional inspection officer (RIO) Shiv Dayal Singh alleged some of the records were intentionally torn, partially damaged, made unreadable, forged and stolen. He added the disappearance of land records would make it difficult to prove land ownership, leading to legal battles and disputes....