Mathura on boil as toll mounts to 24

The toll in the violent clashes between the police and 3,000 members of a little-known sect in Mathura late on Thursday evening rose to 24. Two police officers and 22 civilians were among the dead.  

Trouble broke out when Uttar Pradesh Police, armed with orders from the high court, went to evict members of the Azad Bharat Vidhik Vaicharik Kranti Satyagrahi, who had occupied land spread across 280 acres in the heart of the city for the past two years. 

Superintendent of Police (City) Mukul Dwivedi, Station Officer Santosh Yadav and other officers were carrying out a recce of the Jawahar Bagh area to evict the encroachers.  The team became targets of the heavily-armed members who had positioned themselves on treetops. 

Eyewitnesses said the police team hesitated to retaliate as they did not have orders to open fire. According to Rajesh Kumar, district magistrate, Mathura, Dwivedi was hit on the head by a stone and later lynched.

On Friday, a huge cache of arms and ammunition was recovered from members of the sect, also known as Satyagrahis.



“We have recovered 47 guns, six rifles and 178 hand grenades from the area,” Uttar Pradesh DGP Javed Ahmed said.

“Jawahar Bagh is now clear of encroachments. We have arrested 330 people under the National Security Act,” Kumar told reporters on Friday evening. 

The Satyagrahis had occupied Jawahar Bagh on the pretext of organising a sit-in protest to press for their demand of abolition of elections and cheaper fuel.

 According to officials, the sect was led by Ram Briksh Yadav and his associates Chandan Gaur and Rakesh Gupta, among others. 

The DGP said police teams reorganised themselves after losing two of their men. When two shelters were vacated, the protesters set fire to gas cylinders and ammunition stored inside, and this led to several explosions.

"Our two young officers laid down their lives while protecting the law, and with a heavy heart we bid them adieu," he told reporters, paying tributes to the slain officers. Ahmed said 23 police personnel have been hospitalised and many more suffered bullet injuries.