MATHURA: The temple town of Mathura was today on edge after massive violence claimed 24 lives, including an SP and SHO, as police clashed with about 3,000 members of a little-known sect whose leaders have fled while 368 people have been arrested.
An uneasy calm prevailed today as forces from other parts of Uttar Pradesh were rushed to bring normalcy to the town where a large cache of ammunition was recovered from the members of Äzad Bharat Vidhik Vaicharik Kranti Satyagrahi”, an outfit claiming to owe allegience to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, in Jawahar Bagh area.
The clashes took place when police went to evict the members of the sect, which has made outlandish demands for the removal of the President and Prime Minister and replacing of the Indian currency, from a 260-acre Government land encroached by them. The police action followed Allahabad High Court orders.
Mukul Dwivedi, Superintendent of Police and Santosh Yadav, Station House officer, Farah, were killed in the violence thant also claimed the lives of 22 members of the sect.
Among the 24 killed, the two policemen were shot dead and 11 were burnt to death due to cylinder blasts. The encroachers had set on fire the huts where bombs, explosives and gas cylinders were stored, before retreating from the site, he said. In all, 22 rioters including a woman were killed. (AGENCIES)
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