Mastermind enjoyed 'political patronage'
Sanjay Pandey Lucknow: June 8, 2017, DHNS
Officials in Mathura said their efforts to evict cult leader Ram Briksh Yadav from Jawahar Bagh Park failed due to his political “connections”.
This comes a day after the Uttar Pradesh government blamed the local police for the failure to assess the situation before the eviction drive, that led to the deadly clash.
Sources said the district administration in Mathura had sent several reports to the senior officials in the state government in the past three to four years but no action was taken on those reports.
District Horticulture Department, which owned the park, used to send its report on illegal occupation of the park to the Mathura district magistrate on a monthly basis, sources said. The department officials had lodged as many as 12 FIRs against Yadav and his cult members pertaining to the incidents of assaults and encroachment at the park, the sources added.
Yadav had been given permission to hold a “sit-in” at the park for a period of only two days in 2014. “But once Yadav moved into the Park, he remained there till his death during Thursday’s clash with the cops,” said an official in Mathura.
District officials said the authorities in the state capital would cite casualties whenever action was planned against Yadav.
Sources said Yadav had planned to set up his own “ashram” at the Park after being expelled from Jai Gurudev’s organisation. “Yadav wanted a big place for setting up his ashram in Mathura and Jawahar Bagh Park was the ideal place,” said a Horticulture Department official in Mathura.
There were reports that Yadav had contacted senior officials in the government to get the park allotted on lease for a period of 99 years. “Given his clout, he would have succeeded,” the official remarked.
Sources said the plan to take the park on lease could not fructify owing to a petition in the Allahabad High Court seeking eviction of Yadav and his supporters from there. But for the court order, the park could never have been vacated, officials added.
DH News Service
This comes a day after the Uttar Pradesh government blamed the local police for the failure to assess the situation before the eviction drive, that led to the deadly clash.
Sources said the district administration in Mathura had sent several reports to the senior officials in the state government in the past three to four years but no action was taken on those reports.
District Horticulture Department, which owned the park, used to send its report on illegal occupation of the park to the Mathura district magistrate on a monthly basis, sources said. The department officials had lodged as many as 12 FIRs against Yadav and his cult members pertaining to the incidents of assaults and encroachment at the park, the sources added.
Yadav had been given permission to hold a “sit-in” at the park for a period of only two days in 2014. “But once Yadav moved into the Park, he remained there till his death during Thursday’s clash with the cops,” said an official in Mathura.
District officials said the authorities in the state capital would cite casualties whenever action was planned against Yadav.
Sources said Yadav had planned to set up his own “ashram” at the Park after being expelled from Jai Gurudev’s organisation. “Yadav wanted a big place for setting up his ashram in Mathura and Jawahar Bagh Park was the ideal place,” said a Horticulture Department official in Mathura.
There were reports that Yadav had contacted senior officials in the government to get the park allotted on lease for a period of 99 years. “Given his clout, he would have succeeded,” the official remarked.
Sources said the plan to take the park on lease could not fructify owing to a petition in the Allahabad High Court seeking eviction of Yadav and his supporters from there. But for the court order, the park could never have been vacated, officials added.
DH News Service
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