Tension prevails in Mathura, civil society cries foul

Mathura, June 3: A day after a violent confrontation between the police and encroachers rocked Mathura, a pall of gloom enveloped the city, where the situation continues to remain tense.

The violence on Thursday, June 2 claimed 20 lives, including those of Superintendent of Police Mukul Dwivedi and Station House officer (Farah police station) Santosh Yadav. The funeral ceremony of the two police officers will be held on Friday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav announced compensation of Rs 20 lakh each for the families of the two officers.

Many senior state-level officials reached Mathura to take stock of the situation on Friday.

Divisional Commissioner Pradip Bhatnagar, after a visit to Mathura, said firm action will follow and nobody found involved in the violence would be spared.

The encroachers who call themselves "Satyagrahis" have dispersed and the disputed Jawaharbagh area, spread over 280 acres, is now under police control.

While 12 companies of the PAC were already stationed in the city, three more were rushed to the district on Thursday night.

Questions are being asked as to why the confrontation with the encroachers was postponed for over 16 months.

Members of the Braj Bachao Samiti have demanded a CBI inquiry monitored by a Supreme Court judge to expose the conspiracy behind the events climaxing in the confrontation between the police and the "Satyagrahis".

"The babas have been building empires in Mathura-Vrindavan and are engaged in all kinds of shady land deals. Their connections with politicians are well known. Some have been patronised by politicians of the ruling party in the state," Samiti President Manoj Choudhary told IANS.

Civil society members in Mathura said it was clearly an intelligence failure.

"How these people manage to smuggle in arms in such huge quantities needs to be investigated. Some of them were trained in guerrilla tactics and had built shelters in the tress from where they began an all out assault on the police," activist Girdhari Lal said.

According to officials, the "Satyagrahis" occupied the Jawaharbagh on April 18, 2014. On September 30, 2015 the Allahabad High Court ordered their eviction.

Early this April, a group attacked the Sadar Bazar police station. "It was then that the district administration started making preparations for forcing them out and a rehearsal was carried out on May 30."

IANS