Mastermind of the Mathura mayhem dead: UP top cop

Ramvriksh Yadav, the alleged mastermind of the violence in Mathura that killed 24 people, died in clashes triggered by a police anti-encroachment drive against members

Ramvriksh Yadav, the alleged mastermind of the violence in Mathura that killed 24 people, died in clashes triggered by a police anti-encroachment drive against members of his cult, officials said on Saturday.

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UP director general of police Javeed Ahmed tweeted on Saturday that Yadav’s associates – members of the self-styled revolutionary group Swadhin Bharat Vidhik Satyagrah — identified him among t he 11-odd charred bodies lying in Mathura’s Jawahar Bagh.

Yadav, seen in photos as a small, greying man dressed in kurta and dhoti, headed the little-known armed sect that called themselves followers of freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. They squatted in Jawahar Bagh for over two years, building a self-sustained unit inside the 280-acre government park, growing vegetables and even devising their own justice system. Police descended on the encroachers late on Thursday after a court ordered their removal. But the squatters — who had sophisticated arms with them — allegedly opened fire on the force and killed two senior police officers.

This triggered clashes and rioting inside the park that left 24 people dead.