Mathura SP Among 19 Killed in Clashes, Over 200 Protesters Detained

At least 19 people including Mathura Superintendent of Police (SP) Mukul Dwivedi were killed in clashes during an anti-encroachment drive in the city on Thursday evening. Station House Officer Santosh Kumar and a constable are among those killed in firing by the encroachers while several others have been injured.

The clashes broke out when police tried to evict Swadheen Bharat Andolan activists who were illegally occupying land in Jawahar Bagh in Mathura. IG (Law and Order) HR Sharma said around 3,000 encroachers pelted stones and later opened fire at the police team trying to evict them.

The police force had gone to the area following an order of the Allahabad High Court.

In retaliation, the police too opened fire and used tear gas to disperse the crowd. More than 200 people have been detained following the violence.

"We wanted to give notice to people and ask them to vacate the area which has been encroached but the protesters did not pay heed to it and started firing at us," ADG (law and order) Daljeet Singh Choudhary said.

"The activists used not only hand grenades but also opened fire from automatic weapons after taking position at tree tops. The area was filled with smoke due to blast of hand grenades and LPG cylinders following which several huts caught fire," DM Rajesh Kumar said.

UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has ordered a probe into the incident. He expressed grief over the incident and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 20 lakh to the family of the killed policemen.

He also directed the Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) to rush to the spot with extra force to bring the situation under control.

Over two years ago, the Swadhin Bharat Andolan activists, had occupied hundreds of acres of land of Jawahar Bagh on the pretext of 'dharna'.

Their demands included "cancellation" of election of the President and Prime Minister of India, replacement of 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 Re 1.