LUCKNOW: Responding to the summons, SP MP Zia-ur-Rehman Barq appeared before the SIT with a team of a dozen lawyers in connection with Sambhal violence which had rocked the city on November 24, last year.
The SP MP was interrogated by the SIT for three hours. Barq is a named accused in Sambhal violence case as he is charged with inciting the mob to resort to vandalism and stone pelting to stall the court-ordered survey of Sambhal Jama Masjid on November 24, last year.
The protest by the Muslim community against the survey of the mosque had resulted in the loss of five lives, leaving scores injured including 19 cops.
Coming out of the Nakhasa police station, Barq said: “I answered all their questions. Probe is going on.”
The MP reached the police station at 11 am with a battery of 12 lawyers, he was interrogated by a team of three police officials, including Station House Officer (SHO) Kuldeep Singh and Inspector Amit Kumar.
As per the sources, the SIT asked Barq about his location on the day of violence. He was also asked about his activities and the persons he talked over phone on the fateful day. He was also asked about the frequency of his conversation with Zafar Ali, the chairman of Mosque Management Committee. Ali was arrested inconnection with the violence on March 23 and is lodged in Moradabad district jail.
The sources claimed that ahead of Barq’s questioning, tight security arrangements were made at the Nakhasa police station and other sensitive locations of the city.
Notably, Barq was served the summons for appearance and questioning by the SIT in Delhi on March 26. The MP was asked to appear before the SIT on April 8.
Zafar Ali advocate had reportedly disclosed before the SIT that on the fateful day, Barq had asked him to gather a mob around the mosque to stall the survey at any cost.
Ali allegedly revealed to SIT that initially, Barq said that the mosque belonged to Muslims and would remain so till ‘Qayamat’.
However, when the protests by the Muslim community turned violent, he asked Ali to call a press conference and pin the blame for the loss of lives on the police, saying that all those killed during the violence were killed by the gunshots fired by cops.
Ali allegedly claimed that he was told by the MP to say that cops were firing from illegal weapons. All such details were mentioned by the SIT in case diary it submitted in the ADJ-II court on Friday.