Arson-accused SP MLA aides arrested in UP

Three history-sheeters booked alongside Samajwadi Party MLA Irfan Solanki for rioting, arson and setting a woman's house on fire last month were arrested here, police said on Monday.

The accused, who were arrested on Sunday, have been identified as Shaqat Ali alias Pahelwan, a well-known builder and father of Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Noori Shauqat, Izrail alias Aatewala and Mohammad Shareef, Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Anand Prakash Tiwari told PTI.

All three have a long list of criminal activities -- Shaqat at Moolganj police station limits, Izrail at Bajaria police station limits and Shareef at Gwaltoli police station limits.

A local court sent them to judicial custody, Tiwari said.

Solanki and his younger brother Rizwan had surrendered on December 2. They were subsequently arrested and sent to jail.

The police had booked Solanki, Rizwan and dozens of other people for rioting, arson and criminal intimidation over a land dispute, Tiwari said.

The FIR against them was registered after one Nazir Fatima accused Solanki, his brother and their aides of destroying her house on the intervening night of November 7 and 8, he added.