'SP, SHO hit by bullets in first 10 mins of unprovoked firing'

Mathura, Jun 3: The Superintendent of Police and Station House Officer who lost their lives in the Jawaharbagh operation here were hit by bullets in the first 10 minutes of "unprovoked" firing by the encroachers, officials said.

The anti-encroachment operation started around 5 pm and the strategy was to enter Jawaharbagh by scaling the wall on its eastern side, Uttar Pradesh Police officials said.

Jawaharbagh, spread over nearly 260 acres, is less than a km away from the district magistrate's office here. It is bound by cantonment area, police lines, a prison and government quarters.

By the time the police force could move any closer to the 5-feet-high wall fencing the land, the encroachers had started firing. Within seconds it was raining bullets and the encroachers had positioned themselves at the trees in the enclosed area.

"In the first ten minutes, five police officials had sustained bullet injuries including the SP and the SHO," a police officer said. Meanwhile, the protesters resorted to grenade shelling and the police team had to move back, the officer said.

After the injured policemen were rushed to the hospital, the police force took over the terraces of the government quarters on eastern side of Jawaharbagh and started stone pelting, said eyewitnesses.

Once the firing stopped for a while, the police teams scaled the wall and entered Jawaharbagh premises.

PTI