A Home Lost In 1978, Reclaimed In 2026: The Return Of A Sambhal Riot Victim's Family
A Home Lost In 1978, Reclaimed In 2026: The Return Of A Sambhal Riot Victim's Family Reported By, Last Updated: June 06, 2026, 17:04 IST
A Home Lost In 1978, Reclaimed In 2026: The Return Of A Sambhal Riot Victim's Family Reported By, Last Updated: June 06, 2026, 17:04 IST The UP government has launched a rehabilitation drive to resettle victims on three bighas of government land reclaimed in Sher Khan Sarai Minister JPS Rathore, who attended the allotment ceremony, described the initiative as an effort to deliver justice that had been delayed for decades. Image/News18 Forty-eight years after his grandfather’s body was pulled out of a well during the 1978 Sambhal riots, Kapil Rastogi watched government officials lay the foundation stone for a new home on land allotted to his family. For the Rastogis, the ceremony was not merely about receiving a 100-square-metre residential plot. It was the culmination of a journey that began on March 29, 1978, when communal violence swept through Sambhal, leaving behind death, destruction, and generations of displacement. Nearly five decades after the riots claimed around 150 lives and forced scores of families to abandon their homes and businesses, the Uttar Pradesh government has launched a rehabilitation drive to resettle victims on three bighas of government land reclaimed in Sher Khan Sarai. The family of late trader Ramsharan Rastogi became the first beneficiary of the initiative. Standing beside his mother Rukmini Rastogi as Uttar Pradesh Minister JPS Rathore handed over the ownership certificate, Kapil reflected on a city his family had not called home since the violence forced them out. “We never thought we would return to Sambhal," Kapil said. “For years, we only heard stories about our home, our shop, and what happened to my grandfather. Today, it feels like we are finally coming back." The Riot That Changed Sambhal The communal violence that erupted in Sambhal on March 29, 1978, remains one of the bloodiest chapters in the town’s history.
Contemporary accounts and survivor testimonies suggest tensions had been building before violence broke out and rapidly spread through the town’s crowded neighbourhoods and commercial centres. Within hours, markets were engulfed in flames, shops were looted, and homes were attacked. Official estimates put the death toll at around 150 people, though survivors insist the human cost went far beyond numbers. Hundreds of families were displaced, while many who survived chose never to return. Among those killed was Ramsharan Rastogi, who ran a grocery shop in Mahmood Khan Sarai near the Ekta police outpost. According to his family, a mob attacked the shop during the riots, looted its contents, and set it ablaze. Ramsharan was killed, and his body was allegedly thrown into a well outside the shop. “My grandmother and father would tell us how his body was recovered three days later," Kapil said. “Those stories became a part of our childhood. We grew up hearing about the violence, the loss, and the life we had left behind," said Kapil. The family says the body bore multiple stab wounds and deep axe injuries. Today, the same well stands as a reminder of one of the darkest episodes in the town’s history. The family has demanded that a memorial be built at the site in memory of the victims. However, the violence did not end with the riots. For survivors, the greater challenge was rebuilding their lives after losing homes, businesses, and a sense of security. Another riot survivor, Anil Kumar Rastogi, remembers watching his livelihood disappear overnight. “I had a pulses shop in Sambhal. When the violence started, I ran home to save my life. When I returned, the shop had been burnt down.
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