LUCKNOW: A newly constructed police post was inaugurated on Friday, just 100 metres away from the residences of Samajwadi Party’s Sambhal MP Zia-ur-Rahman Barq. The uniqueness of the outpost lies in the fact that it has been built using the same bricks and stones that rioters had thrown at the cops during a violence which had seen loss of five lives leaving scores, including the cops, injured in the western UP district on November 24, 2024.

The post, named Deepa Sarai Police Outpost, was inaugurated on Friday with a havan-pujan ceremony conducted by two priests. CO Kuldeep Kumar served as the host for the ritual. The outpost is near the residence of the absconding gangster Sharik Satha, who is believed to be the mastermind of the Sambhal violence last year. Moreover, SP MP Zia-ur-Rehman Barq figures among the accused of violence. He is charged with inciting unrest. The construction of the Deepa Sarai outpost began on March 4, 2025, and was completed in nine months and 13 days, said police sources.

The two-storey outpost has a control room equipped with CCTV cameras to keep a vigilant eye on the activities taking place in the vicinity. The city already has a Satyavrat police post next to Sambhal Jama Masjid, where police remain deployed round-the-clock.