The Samajwadi Party (SP) delegation has postponed the visit to violence-hit Sambhal. Leader of Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Mata Prasad Pandey said at a press conference on Tuesday that the party’s tour of Sambhal was postponed after talks with Director General of Police (DGP) Prashant Kumar.
In fact, after the DGP ensured a fair investigation, the scheduled visit of the Samajwadi Party delegation to the violence-affected Sambhal district on Tuesday was postponed. Mata Prasad Pandey himself has given information in this regard.
He said SP chief (Akhilesh Yadav) had formed a delegation under his leadership to go to Sambhal and collect information and real facts about the incident. I had to leave at 10 in the morning, but I had a conversation with the DGP. They knew it was under control. Our people have been wrongly implicated, while FIRs have also been lodged against those who were not present there. The DGP has assured me of a fair and detailed investigation into the matter.
Mata Prasad Pandey said he decided to follow the police chief’s advice not to visit Sambhal for the next three days. Pandey said: We have decided not to be cautious after the assurances and requests. The DGP has assured that no innocent person will be implicated.
Currently, the situation in violence-affected Sambhal became normal on Tuesday. Schools reopened and shops in local markets reopened, although the internet remained down.
According to SP, the delegation was to collect information on the violence and submit a report to the party’s national president Akhilesh Yadav. The delegation included Mata Prasad Pandey, LOP Legislative Council, Lal Bihari Yadav, Rajya Sabha MP Javed Ali, Lok Sabha MP Harinder Malik, Ruchi Veera, Zia ur Rehman Burke, Neeraj Maurya, MLA Nawab Iqbal, Pinky Yadav, Kamal Akhtar along with SP’s Moradabad. They included district president Jaiveer Yadav and Bareilly chief Shivcharan Kashyap.
Four people are known to have been killed and many people, including policemen, injured in the clash that took place over court-ordered reconnaissance at Shahi Jama Masjid, located in Kot Garvi area of Sambhal, on Sunday. It was claimed in the petition that there was once a Harihar temple at this site. So far, the police have arrested 25 suspects and registered seven FIRs in connection with the violence. A case has been registered against more than 2,750 people, including SP MP Zia-ur-Rehman Barq and Sohail Iqbal, son of local SP MLA Iqbal Mehmood.
