Mathura: 24 Persons Including SP, SHO Killed In A Violent Clash

Violent clashes broke out in Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura on Thursday in a bid to evict illegal occupants of a land. The clashes have led to the killing of 24 people, including two policemen and over 40 people were injured. The police have so far arrested 320 people in connection with the clashes.

The violence erupted when the police tried to evict over 3,000 illegal occupants of a 260-acre plot in Jawahar Bagh on the directions of the Allahabad High Court. Occupants are believed to be members of Azad Bharat Vidhik Vaicharik Kranti Satyagrahi. The group pelted stones at the police officers, threw grenades and opened fire from automatic weapons. In retaliation, the police had to fire after using batons and tear gas to them.

Smoke spread all over the area due to blasts of hand grenades and LPG cylinders, which resulted in several huts catching fire, said the District Magistrate to FirstPost.

According to the information shared by UP DGP Javed Ahmed, 23 policemen have been admitted to hospital and many of them have suffered bullet injuries.

Preface to this incident
Almost two years ago, activists claiming themselves to be the members of Azad Bharat Vidhik Vaicharik Kranti Satyagrahi had occupied a big portion of the land of Jawahar Bagh for their ‘dharna’. They had demanded cancellation of the election of the President and the Prime Minister of India, replacement of the existing currency with ‘Azad Hind Fauj’ currency, sale of diesel at the rate of 60 litres for one rupee and petrol at the rate of 40 litres for one rupee.

The administration had earlier sent several notices to them to clear the area, but it did not help. The protesters had been demanding these policies for over months and they had openly kept arms as well.

The Allahabad High Court asked the authorities to clear the land, acting on a PIL.

Reactions
UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav announced compensation of Rs 20 lakh to the family of the deceased policemen.

Surprisingly, the BJP Mp of Mathura, actor-politician Hema Malini was found unaware of the event as she was busy shooting for her upcoming film. She was tweeting about her upcoming flick and a pleasant boat ride to Madh Island. However, soon after realising the gravity of the situation in Mathura, she withdrew her tweets and expressed her grief over the loss of lives.

Meanwhile, the authorities have cleared the area in Mathura and a massive manhunt has been launched to catch the culprits.

The Logical Indian urges the government to take stern action against the culprits. A probe has to be conducted on how did the agitators get hold of the heavy artilleries.