Verdict on plea for CBI probe into Mathura violence reserved

The Allahabad High Court today reserved its judgement on a plea for the CBI probe into the Jawahar Bagh episode of Mathura in which over 20 people, including two policemen, were killed in violence that erupted last year while evicting squatters from the public park.
A division bench of Chief Justice D B Bhosle and Justice Yashwant Verma reserved its verdict after hearing arguments of the petitioners and the Uttar Pradesh government.
The plea for the CBI probe into the violence unleashed by leader of the squatters Ram Vriksh Yadav and his accomplices had been made by the Supreme Court lawyer and BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay and Mathura resident Vijay Pal Singh Tomar.

The others who were party to the plea for CBI probe included wife Archana Dwivedi and son Prafull Dwivedi of the slain Superintendent of Police Mukul Dwivedi, who was among those killed in the violence that had erupted on June 2 last year.
The sprawling public park had been illegally occupied for more than two years by followers of a self-styled cult leader Ram Vriksh Yadav.
After the eviction drive, a huge cache of arms, ammunition and explosives were recovered from the hutments that had come up inside Jawahar Bagh.
Although the state government has set up a commission of inquiry headed by a retired high court judge, the petitioners have contended that only a CBI probe would ensure justice as Ram Vriksh Yadav was said to be close to the leaders of the ruling Samajwadi Party in the state.