8 Aug 2009, 1346 hrs IST

LUCKNOW, India: As part of the probe into the arson attack on Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi's house, the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) will collect call details of several senior policemen, officials here said today.

"By analysing the call records we will be able to assess the locations of the policemen at the time of the arson incident," a senior CB-CID official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

The CB-CID's decision to collect the call records comes in the wake of charges made by Joshi and her party that Chief Minister Mayawati had orchestrated the attack and acting on her directions several police officials present in close vicinity of the house had not attempted to control the mob that resorted to arson last month.

"In the presence of policemen, arson and vandalism took place at Ritaji's residence. During the entire incident, cops remained mute spectators. Had they taken timely action, such an incident could have been prevented," said Congress state unit spokesperson Akhilesh Pratap Singh.

The Allahabad High Court yesterday turned down Joshi's plea to quash the police complaint lodged against her for making derogatory remarks against Mayawati.

Joshi was arrested July 16 for her remarks allegedly against Mayawati in Moradabad. She was sent judicial custody for 14 days after being booked under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, but was bailed out after three days.

Her house in Lucknow was set on fire on the night of July 15, allegedly by a group of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) workers.

Joshi has apologized for her remarks, but she continues to demand a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the arson attack on her house.

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