An uneasy calm prevailed in the temple town of Mathura on Friday after massive violence on Thursday claimed 24 lives, including city Superintendent of Police Mukul Dwivedi and Station House Officer (Farah police station) Santosh Yadav, following clashes between police and 3,000 members of a little-known sect. Around 300 people, including protesters and police personnel were also injured. Police seized a large cache of ammunition from the site and arrested 320 people.
Violence erupted when the nearly 1,000 policemen who entered the large park to evict the heavily armed illegal occupants of Jawahar Bagh spread over 280 acres on Government land in Mathura on the orders of the Allahabad High Court were completely ambushed, sources said. From treetops, bullets showered down on them, they added.
The obscure Azad Bharat Vidhik Vaicharik Kranti Satyagrahi is a little known cult group that claims allegiance to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Under apparent political patronage, thousands of satyagrahis have been allegedly occupying Jawahar Bagh area of Mathura spread across around 280 acres illegally for almost years in the name of ‘dharna’. The group has been making weird demands like removal of the President and the Prime Minister, and discontinuation of the Indian currency. They also want 40 litre of petrol for Re one and 60 litre of diesel for Re one.
locals claim that for the last one year, they had been making the lives of the local people hell. For the last six days, the authorities had been constantly announcing on the microphones asking the encroachers to evacuate the area peacefully.
The police claimed that the protesters started shooting at them without any provocation, a claim supported by the locals. However, no account from any of the protesters was available as none of them could be found till the filing of this report. Police have barricaded the area.
Meanwhile, locals claim that the trouble was brewing for more than a year. They said that the Satyagrahis ran a parallel economy inside the encroached land with schools, dispensaries, beauty parlours, godowns and shops selling food articles and daily use products at cheaper than market prices.
“However, for the last few months, they did not allow ‘outsiders’ to enter their encroached land,” said Mohan Singh, a Government employee who lives just across the wall that separates his house from the land where the violence took place on Thursday evening.
He added that the Satyagrahis had also occupied the horticulture office which was now being run from another place for the last few months.
Mahesh Thakur, a student, who helped some police personnel carry the body of SHO Santosh Yadav, said, “Initially, there were no problems and they lived peacefully. But around one year back, they thrashed caretakers of the land and drove them away. They also threatened the contractors who were given the contract of taking fruits from the land and started using those for their own use. They had misbehaved with locals as well asking our nationality. They threatened us that they will occupy our homes if we don’t join them. We were living in hell in our own homes. Even while stepping out of our homes, we had to check if they are nearby and try to avoid them.”
Dushyant Upmanyu, another student, said that the people who lived in the encroached land used to train youth in guerrilla fighting. “They had guns, grenades and all kinds of weapons,” he said.
Meanwhile, Director General of Police (DGP) Javeed Ahmed, who rushed to Mathura with other senior police officers, said, “Situation is under control. It was an unprovoked firing. We were also told that the encroachers were creating problems in the neighbourhood for the last two years. The encroachers who called themselves as Satyagrahis have dispersed and the disputed 280 acres of land is now under police control.” Heavy police force has been deployed in and around the place of clash and the Mathura city. Police forces from the neighbouring districts have been pressed into service.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav ordered a probe by the divisional commissioner of Mathura into the violence at Jawahar Bagh where nearly 3,000 people had illegally set up camp on an over 260-acre plot for last two years.
“The police teams reorganised themselves. After two shelters were vacated, the protesters set afire gas cylinders and ammunition stored there which led to several explosions. 22 rioters were killed in the violence. These include 11 people who were killed in a fire started by the agitators,” he said. The deceased also included a woman.
“Our two young officers laid down their lives while protecting the law and with a heavy heart we bid adieu to them,” the DGP told reporters after paying tributes to the slain officers. He said 23 police personnel have been hospitalised and many among them have suffered bullet injuries.
“Ram Vriksh Yadav, Chandan Bose, Girish Yadav and Rakesh Gupta are the main culprits and leaders of this group and if alive they will be caught by the police,” the DGP said, adding the 22 people killed in the violence are yet to be identified. In lucknow, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav ordered a probe by the divisional commissioner of Mathura, an official spokesperson said.
On April 15, the Mathura administration gave them an ultimatum to evict the land. On May 25, the administration made an attempt to remove them but failed.
Various attempts by the district administration to remove members of the outfit have failed in the past. In fact, the high court had last year directed the administration to take “all necessary steps and precautions” to ensure that the public park is not encroached upon.
On April 15, the administration had given a 48-hour ultimatum to the outfit, but no one paid any heed to it.