Zameer's uncle said he was a sales executive in an automobile company and was on his way to Dehradun for some official work when the police arrested him.

'He was waiting for an auto along with his friend when a drunken youth bumped into them. They had a brawl after which the police nabbed him late Wednesday night,' his uncle Laiq claimed.

However, Saroj claims that he himself caught the five red handed with empty jerry-cans.

Meanwhile, the police have clubbed the FIR lodged by Congress spokesperson Subodh Srivastava with the FIR lodged by Saroj.

Srivastava had lodged an FIR against Jitendra Singh alias Babloo, the Bahujan Samaj Party legislator from the Bikapur constituency of Faizabad, accusing him of leading the mob that set Joshi's house on fire.

According to Srivastava, the legislator, with his face covered and along with over a dozen masked men, ransacked and set on fire Joshi's house and three vehicles there. 'He also spoke to some news channels afterwards and even took responsibility,' Srivastava claimed.

However, the police is yet to interrogate Babloo.

'The FIR has been clubbed with our FIR and we will question Babloo, if needed,' Superintendent of Police (East) Harish Kumar said.

Joshi's house was set ablaze Wednesday night, allegedly by ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) activists after she made remarks against Chief Minister Mayawati.