Group 'linked' to 2016 Mathura violence warned of strict action

: Authorities have warned against any attempt to disrupt law and order by alleged supporters of a cult leader whose followers had clashed with the police here in 2016, leading to about 30 deaths.

The 'Swadheen Bharat Vidhik Satyagrah Sandesh Yatra' began Thursday from Deoria and will end in Gazipur on Republic Day, passing through several districts of Uttar Pradesh.

It will reach Mathura on January 23, according to advocate Laxmi Kant Gautam, the counsel for the group.

He also claims to be the counsel for Ram Vriksh Yadav who, the police said, died in the 2016 violence but his supporters maintain is in captivity.

Nobody would be allowed to take the law in their hands, District Magistrate Sarvagyaram Mishra said Friday.

The official said section 144 of the CrPC remains in force in most tehsils in the district.

Any attempt to spoil the atmosphere would be dealt with severely, he said.

Yadav and his supporters ran an illegal settlement at Jawahar Bagh in Mathura for over two and half years.

At least 29 people were killed in clashes in June 2016 when the police tried to evict the encroachers from the compound from where a large cache of arms was also recovered.

One aim of the yatra is to seek Yadav's release or a "death certificate".

The group says it will observe the birth anniversary of freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose in Mathura.