UP government may have faked Mathura violence kingpin Ram Vriksh's 'death'
Even as it is now official that Ram Vriksh Yadav, the key accused in Thursday’s (June 2) sensational Mathura violence was among the 28 “dead”, the police claim is not above suspicion.
According to latest reports reaching the state headquarters in Lucknow, the body, stated to be of that of Ram Vriksh, was completely charred and therefore disfigured.
Neither the district magistrate nor the SSP of Mathura were able to explain how they had identified the body as that of the self-styled supremo Swadheen Bharat Subhash Sena who literally bossed over them and ran his private fiefdom on an illegally occupied 280 acre government land at a stone’s throw from the district magistrate's residence for a good 30 months.
Sections of the local population are suspicious that the declaration of Ram Vriksh’s death could be a ploy to keep under wraps the many skeletons that he was believed to have in his cupboard. A “dead” Ram Vriksh would would seal many doors that could have exposed his conduits that kept him far above the reach of the law of the land.
His proximity to Shivpal Yadav, Uttar Pradesh's most powerful multi-portfolio minister is already being talked about in the state's corridors of power. Shivpal is Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav's younger brother and chief minister Akhilesh Yadav's uncle.
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| Ram Vriksh Yadav with his gunmen on his routine daily round in Mathura before his clash with cops. |
Significantly, Ram Vriksh was also receiving a special monthly pension of Rs 15,000, that was started by an earlier Mulayam government, which then took a decision to give pension to all those who were imprisoned under stringent laws like Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) during the Emergency.
Many pertinent questions are being raised in this regard. Why did it take the administration more than 36 hours to declare Ram Vriksh's death, especially since he is believed to have died in the blast in the organisation’s own camp, from where a huge cache of firearms were also recovered?
Were the local officials not familiar with Ram Vriksh’s face that they took so long to recognise him? Who were sitting in the two vehicles which sped away from the scene while the exchange of fire was taking place?
Many more incriminating facts have come to light. It was common knowledge in Mathura that all local officials would eat out of Ram Vriksh’s hand. He was also understood to have been instrumental in getting the present district magistrate Rakesh Kumar and SSP Rajesh Kumar posted in Mathura.
Even SP (City) Mukul Dwivedi who was lynched to death by Ram Vriksh's private army on Thursday as well as SHO Santosh Yadav, who fell to bullets, owed their appointments to the anarchist whose clout with the ruling dispensation was an open secret.
Any objectivity on the part of these officials who were clearly obliged to Ram Vriksh is doubtful. That they would sign on the dotted line is clearly evident and perhaps that was the reason the government had not shown any motivation to shift them.
What has surprised many that even after chief minister Akhilesh Yadav sought to blame it all on the local machinery, no action had so far been taken against a single official.
It is said that the official declaration of Ram Vriksh’s death came only after prolonged parleys between top members of the ruling dispensation on Friday night. However, they advised the Mathura administration to call close relatives of Ram Vriksh to confirm the identification.