UP LoP Mata Prasad Pandey stopped from visiting Bareilly amid tensions over "I Love Mohammad" row

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], October 4 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh Assembly Leader of Opposition and SP MLA Mata Prasad Pandey on Saturday said that the police have barred him and a Samajwadi Party delegation from visiting Bareilly, where tensions have been running high following the recent "I Love Mohammad" row.
Local police personnel have been deployed outside Pandey's residence. A delegation of the Samajwadi Party led by Mata Prasad Pandey is scheduled to visit Bairelly today.

Speaking to ANI, Pandey said that local police served him a notice directing him to remain at home and not proceed to Bareilly. "A delegation led by me was going there (to Bareilly). I was given a notice by the police, and the inspector told me I had to stay home and not leave. If the collector had written, I would have accepted it. Then, a letter came from the Bareilly DM. He also said that your arrival would spoil the atmosphere here, so you should not come here."
"To hide their own shortcomings, they are not allowing us to go there. We will now talk to our party members and decide accordingly," Pandey added.
This comes against the backdrop of a tense situation prevailing in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly, where protests over "I Love Mohammad" posters on September 26 turned violent.
In response to the unrest, the Bareilly administration suspended mobile internet and broadband services for 48 hours, from 3 pm on October 2 to 3 pm on October 4.
A group of people had gathered outside Ala Hazrat Dargah and Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) chief Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan's house, holding "I Love Mohammad" placards. The protestors pelted stones at the police during the protest after the Friday prayers.
Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh Police conducted flag marches in Kanpur as well to ensure peace during Friday prayers. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Ashutosh Kumar Singh stated that no problems have arisen thus far. "There is no disorder of any kind here... Police are deployed everywhere."
Uttar Pradesh Police have arrested Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) National General Secretary Nafees Khan and his son Farman Khan in connection with the September 26 protests in Bareilly, taking the total arrests in the case to 81.
According to the police, Farman used to handle the Facebook page of IMC. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Bareilly Anurag Arya informed that Nafees and his son revealed that "everyone was involved in the conspiracy". (ANI)