SP delegation defers visit to violence-hit Sambhal

Lucknow: A Samajwadi Party delegation’s scheduled visit to violence-hit Sambhal district on Tuesday has been postponed following an assurance of a fair probe by the Uttar Pradesh Police chief, a senior leader said.

Four people died and scores, including police personnel, were injured in Sambhal on Sunday after a confrontation erupted over a court-ordered survey of the city’s Shahi Jama Masjid in Kot Garvi area, following a petition claiming that a Harihar temple once stood at the site.

Police have so far arrested 25 suspects and lodged seven FIRs in connection with the violence, booking more than 2,750 people, including SP MP Zia-ur-Rehman Barq and local SP MLA Iqbal Mehmood’s son Sohail Iqbal. Senior SP leader and Leader of Opposition in UP Legislative Assembly Mata Prasad Pandey on Tuesday said during a press conference the party’s visit to Sambhal has been deferred after his interaction with the Director General of Police Prashant Kumar.

“The SP chief (Akhilesh Yadav) had formed a delegation under my leadership to visit Sambhal and get actual information and facts about the incident. I was to leave at 10 am but I had a conversation with the DGP.