Mathura violence: Supreme Court to hear PIL today for CBI probe

Speaking at a rally in Amroha on Sunday, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh dared the UP government to call for a CBI investigation

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Supreme Court will today have an urgent hearing on the plea for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the Mathura violence.

A vacation bench of justices P C Ghose and Amitava Roy had yesterday listed the matter, filed by lawyer and Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Ashwini Upadhyay.

The petitioner's advocate sought an urgent hearing saying that the CBI probe is necessary, looking at the gravity of the violence. The petitioner said, the court may also take suo motu cognisance of the matter and direct the CBI enquiry, as it is necessary to find out the truth.

Speaking at a rally in Amroha on Sunday, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh dared the Uttar Pradesh government to call for a CBI investigation into the incident.

"It seems like there is more to it than meets the eye. And such things should be brought into the open," said Singh at the rally.

"If the Uttar Pradesh government wants to get to the bottom of this, they should ask for a CBI enquiry into the violence. If they ask, the Centre will surely agree. This is not a small incident," he added.

BJP president Amit Shah had earlier held Uttar Pradesh minister Shivpal Singh Yadav responsible for the Mathura violence and sought his resignation.

The Samajwadi Party, however, countered his assertion and dared the BJP president to either produce evidence in support of his allegations or tender a public apology.

A large amount of explosives were found during the search operation yesterday at the Jawahar Bagh where 25 people, including two cops, were killed following a clash between the police personnel and encroachers.

Facing flak from all corners for offering a compensation of only Rs 20 lakh to the kin of the policemen killed in Mathura violence, the state government reportedly swung into damage control and increased the amount of compensation to 50 lakh earlier on Saturday.

It also announced that that the kin of the deceased security men will also be provided with extraordinary pension.