Outgoing Mathura district magistrate Rajesh Kumar on Tuesday said the police crackdown on encroachers in Jawahar Bagh, where two police officials and over two dozen others were killed in clashes last week, was not planned for the “fateful” day but for some other date “very soon”.
“We had already arranged 15 companies of the PAC/RAF (Provincial Armed Constabulary/Rapid Action Force) but were waiting for the two women RAF companies to come and begin the police operation in Jawahar Bagh,” he said.
The state government transferred the DM, along with the SSP, on Monday amid growing criticism of an ‘ill-planned’ police operation that led to a ferocious counter-attack by Yadav and his followers.
Kumar maintained that the events on June 2 “just happened”. He refused to talk about other related issues, saying he was not supposed to speak much till the inquiry into the matter was complete.
He added the police were only taking stock of the pre-operation situation by patrolling the area on June 2, identifying the entry points for the force and the exit points for the encroachers, apart from making some other preparations before starting the operation to evict the squatters.
“However, the encroachers got provoked by the police movement and killed two police officers, including SP city Mukul Dwivedi,” the former Mathura DM said, adding, “The SP city had six companies of the PAC with him when he walked into the park. But the personnel with him somehow got demoralised at that crucial moment.”
{{/usCountry}}“However, the encroachers got provoked by the police movement and killed two police officers, including SP city Mukul Dwivedi,” the former Mathura DM said, adding, “The SP city had six companies of the PAC with him when he walked into the park. But the personnel with him somehow got demoralised at that crucial moment.”
{{/usCountry}}However, there are many who praise Kumar for taking a stand on the issue.