The toll in the fierce police-satyagrahi clash in Mathura on Thursday, rose to 24 even as over 80 others including 23 cops were battling for their lives.
A team led by SP City Mukul Dwivedi and Station House Officer, Farah, Santosh Yadav had gone to Jawaharbagh to do a recee of a land encroached by members of a cult as per a High Court order.
Heavy police force is still patrolling the area and both DGP Javeed Ahmed and Principal Secretary (Home) Devashish Panda had visited the spot. It has been decided that the National Security Act will be involed against the violent perpetrators.
Nearly 3,000 people had illegally set up camps and living on the cncroached 240 acre government land for the last two years. Most of them owe their allegiance to a cult group 'Azad Bharat Vidhik Vaicharik Kranti Satyagrahi'.
Meanwhile in Mathura, DGP Javeed Ahmed told media persons on Friday morning that there was 'unprovoked' firing by encroachers who had perched themselves on trees.
Narrating the sequence of events, the DGP said, "Those on the ground pelted stones and mercilessly beat up the cornered and outnumbered policemen with lathis and rods leading to critical injuries to the SP (City) Mukul Dwivedi, SHO, Farah, Santosh Yadav and several others. The miscreants set fire to gas cylinders and ammunition stored there causing several blasts. The assailants escaped from the scene taking the cops for dead,” stressed Ahmad
The DGP claimed that later a heavy police contingent rushed to the spot led by senior officers and used anti-riot operations to defuse the situation which continued till late night. "The entire encroached area has been cleared of the miscreants and their illegal possession." said the top cop.
Ahmad said, "A total of 22 rioters, including a woman, were killed in the violence which include 11 persons killed in a fire started by the agitators. Besides, 23 police personnel have been hospitalised and several have suffered bullet injuries. We have recovered 53 guns including country made revolvers, rifles along with and 178 live cartridges from the area."
"The bodies of the deceased are yet to be identififed and if Ram Vriksha Yadav has not been killed in the operation, then we will arrest him soon,” said the DGP replying to a querry whether Yadav was dead or managed to hoodwink the cops.
The police has so far arrested 368 persons including 310 for apprehension of breach of peace and 58 for indulging in violence and recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunitions during the subsequent search operation.
"Ram Vriksh Yadav, Chandan Bose, Girish Yadav, Rinku, Dheeraj Singh, Amit, Rampal, Veeresh Yadav, lakshman Pasi, Sunder lal, Munni lal and Rakesh Gupta have been identified as the chief perpetrators out of a mob of over 2500 persons," IG law and Order, HR Sharma confirmed in lucknow on Friday evening.