Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav, Congress MP Mohammed Azharuddin and BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi were detained by the UP police on Thursday while they were on their way to a violence-hit village in Moradabad where prohibitory orders are in force.
While Mr Yadav was detained near Delhi-UP border by the Ghaziabad police, Mohammed Azharuddin, who is also the Moradabad MP, was picked up by police in Moradabad while he was proceeding towards Asatalpur village where an irate mob indulged in arson and brick-batting and left the DIG police seriously injured on Wednesday. The mob was protesting against police misbehaviour with women in the village and desecration of a holy book.
Mr Yadav told reporters that he had been illegally detained and accused the Mayawati government of suppressing the voice of the opposition.
Mohammed Azaharuddin and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi also slammed the UP government for detaining them.