Two dozen injured as farmers, police clash in Mathura

Over two dozen people, including a few policemen, were injured here Saturday when a group of farmers, protesting the delay in compensation for their land, went berserk and pelted stones at security personnel, officials said.

Violence broke out near the Gokul Barrage in Mathura when police tried to disperse the farmers staging a sit-in along with Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) activists as the protest was causing a traffic jam.

The mob raised slogans against police and the state government, and hurled stones at the security personnel, injuring a few of them.

Police retaliated with a cane-charge and also fired blanks.

Incensed at this, the mob torched many vehicles, including a bus.

Mathura Senior Superintendent of Police Manzil Saini said four police officers were injured.

The farmers were also demanding compensation for damage to crops, which were submerged following a rise in the water level in the barrage.

"For more than 16 years now, we have not been compensated for the land acquired from us for the barrage," an angry farmer said.

The BJP accused the Samajwadi Party government of using brute force on the farmers.

"When the demand for compensation has been pending for a very long time and the farmers' agitation had been going on for many days, why did the state government not pay heed to the problems raised by farmers," state BJP spokesman Manoj Mishra said.

Home department officials said the situation was under control and additional security forces were deployed in the area.

Mathura District Magistrate Rajesh Kumar told IANS "everything is under control. Traffic movement is now smooth."