The Uttar Pradesh police on Saturday stopped a Samajwadi Party delegation heading for Bareilly, where the crackdown on the 'I Love Muhammad' campaign led to violence and the arrest of several Muslims, including renowned scholar Maulana Tauqeer Raza.

The 14-member delegation led by the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Mata Prasad Pandey, was directed by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav to visit Bareilly, which remained tense as the administration's crackdown on protesters continued.

Pandey slammed the police action as "undemocratic" and a "violation of the Constitution."

"A letter was initially issued asking me to stay in the house, but was later corrected. As soon as the government received information about our visit, a large police force was deployed at our private residence in Lucknow to

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