ALLAHABAD: A petition demanding a CBI inquiry into the Jawahar Bagh violence in Mathura which claimed the lives of more than 20 persons, including a senior police official, was today filed in the Allahabad High Court.
The PIL, filed by BJP leader and Supreme Court lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay, is likely to be taken up for hearing by the court on Monday.
Upadhyay, who had earlier moved the apex court with his prayer but was told to approach the High Court with his plea, has contended that the "magnitude of the crime" made it imperative that the outbreak of violence at Jawahar Bag in Mathura on June 2 be handed over to CBI for investigation.
The petitioner has also alleged that Ram Vriksha Yadav, a cult leader who led the over thousands of squatters at Jawahar Bag, had converted the park into a "quasi republic with its own Constitution, penal code, judicial system, prisons and army".
Claiming that such a scenario could not have arisen without the support of ruling Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh, the petitioner has alleged that Yadav was close to many influential people in the ruling party and hence "in current circumstances", the Commission of Inquiry set up by the state government, comprising a retired High Court judge, "will not be able to resolve the issue".