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Mathura violence: SC to hear plea for CBI probe today
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a petition seeking a CBI probe into the clashes that erupted in Mathura last week, even as the Uttar Pradesh government transferred the area’s district magistrate and senior superintendent of police in this connection.
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a petition seeking a CBI probe into the clashes that erupted in Mathura last week, even as the Uttar Pradesh government transferred the area’s district magistrate and senior superintendent of police in this connection.
A vacation bench headed by Justice PC Ghose ordered that the petition, filed by Delhi BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay, be listed for hearing on Tuesday. The petitioner’s counsel, Kamini Jaiswal, had sought an urgent hearing into the matter. The petitioner said though the Centre was ready to order a probe by the central agency, the Uttar Pradesh government has developed “cold feet”. He also demanded uniform compensation for the families of those killed in the violence.
Read: UP govt submits report on Mathura violence to Centre
Upadhyay alleged that Ram Vriksh Yadav, Azad Bharat Vidhik Vaicharik Kranti Satyagrahi leader and alleged mastermind of the attack, had been running a parallel government at Jawahar Bagh Park since 2014 with the backing of the local administration. Finally, when police tried to evict members of the group from the park under the Allahabad high court’s direction on June 2, clashes broke out. As many as 29 people – including superintendent of police (city) Mukul Dwivedi and station house officer Santosh Kumar – were killed.
Earlier in the day, the Uttar Pradesh government had transferred Mathura district magistrate Rajesh Kumar and senior superintendent of police (SSP) Rakesh Kumar Singh in connection with the Jawahar Bagh violence. Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav confirmed the action taken against the senior officials on Twitter. “#UPCM @yadavakhilesh instructions, DM/SSP Mathura has been transferred. New incumbents will join soon,” he tweeted.
Read: UP govt transfers Mathura DM, SSP after deadly violence
Senior state officials later said Jalaun SSP Babloo Kumar was appointed in Singh’s place while Kumar was replaced by former Muzaffarnagar district magistrate Nikhil Chandra Shukla. Police, meanwhile, launched a statewide hunt to nab the activists of the Azad Bharat Vidhik Vaicharik Kranti Satyagarhi, which owes allegiance to the Swadheen Bharat Subhash Sena.
