CBI targets SP leaders over Mathura violence

New Delhi: The law is catching up with Samajwadi Party functionaries in Uttar Pradesh as the CBI has apparently intensified it’s probe to expose the political links behind the 2016 Jawahar Bagh violence in Mathura, which led to the killing of 26 people, including two police officials. The CBI has collected DNA samples of all those killed in the clashes with the police as investigators seek to establish the identities of those who funded the controversial cult, Azad Bharat Vidhi Vaicharak, headed by self-styled politician Ram Vriksh Yadav. Yadav was among those killed in the clashes after his followers went on rampage.

“There are allegations that Yadav contested Assembly elections from the Zahoorabad in 1984 and parliamentary elections from Gazipur in 1991, and campaigned in support of a senior SP leader during the 2014 general election. It has also been alleged that because of the blessings of a powerful politician, district authorities could not muster the courage of getting Jawahar Bagh park evicted,” sources said. The role of the SP, which was then in power, is suspect as the CBI believes that probe would nail the real culprits in the then Akhilesh Yadav-led state government. The BJP is currently in power in Uttar Pradesh.

“The agency recently recorded statements of three former district magistrates and two senior police officials from Mathura in connection with the case. Besides, 99 accused, who are in judicial custody, have also been interrogated by the CBI,” sources said. The DNA samples of all the deceased, recently collected by the CBI, have been sent for forensic examination. “The agency is now concentrating its probe to ascertain the identity of those who financially helped the Azad Bharat Vidhi Vaicharak,” sources added.

It may be recalled that the then UP government had, in January 2014, granted permission to Ram Vriksh Yadav’s organisation to hold a demonstration inside Jawahar Bagh for two days. However, members of the group went on to occupy the sprawling public park for more than two years. Following a high court order, the squatters were evicted from the park amid large-scale violence.

A huge cache of arms, ammunition and explosives were recovered from the huts that had been erected inside the park during the period of illegal occupation.

The CBI registered a case to probe the violence in March. The case was registered on the directions of the Allahabad high court.