HC stays Sambhal MP's arrest

The Allahabad high court on Friday stayed the arrest of Samajwadi Party MP Ziaur Rahman Barq in connection with violence in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal district during a survey of a Mughal-era mosque.

However, the court refused to quash the first information report (FIR) against him.

In the FIR lodged at the Sambhal police station, Barq has been named for alleged provocation for violence during the court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid mosque that left four people dead.

The order was passed by a bench of Justices Rajiv Gupta and Azahar Husain Idrisi on a petition filed by Barq, after hearing his counsel Imran Ullah and the additional government advocate.

In its order, the court said the probe against Barq would continue and asked the member of Parliament to cooperate with the investigators.