Police barricades outside Congress office and leader residences in Sambhal; Congress plans to visit despite government ban.

A scuffle broke out between Uttar Pradesh Police and Congress leaders as the partys delegation, led by Ajay Rai, was prevented from visiting violence-hit Sambhal.

Scores of Congress workers jostled with police personnel and tried to scale barricades outside the party office in Lucknow on Monday as a party delegation led by its Uttar Pradesh unit chief Ajay Rai was prevented from leaving for Sambhal,

A Congress delegation led by the party's Uttar Pradesh President Ajay Rai is scheduled to visit Sambhal on Monday, where a stone-pelting incident took place on November 24.

Congress workers were stopped by police from visiting Sambhal, where violence broke out over a disputed mosque site. Four people died in the clashes. The Uttar Pradesh government's extension of a ban on outsider entry until December 10 has been criticized by Congress.

On November 24, four people died in alleged police firing after a mob protested violently against a court-ordered survey of a local mosque.

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The Congress party is locked in a standoff with Uttar Pradesh police over a planned march to the riot-affected Sambhal. Authorities have restricted political parties from entering until December 10 due to law and order concerns.