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Roundup: Death toll in India's squatters eviction drive rises to 24

Xinhua, June 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

Police action to evict thousands of squatters in northern India city of Uttar Pradesh killed 24 people including two police officers, officials said Friday.

More than 100 people, according to officials, were reportedly injured in the clashes.

The police action at Mathura, an ancient Hindu city of temples, about 160 km southeast of Indian capital city New Delhi, began late on Thursday.

"In the fateful incident 24 persons including two policemen and 22 rioters were killed," Uttar Pradesh Police Chief Javed Ahmad said at a press conference in Mathura.

According to Ahmad, the squatters fired from treetops and hurled stones in their attack on police during which two of police officers Mukul Dwivedi, superintendent of Police Mathura and his subordinate station house officer Santosh Kumar Yadav were "martyred in the line of duty".

The squatters at Jawahar Bagh were identified as former members of religious sect and supporters of Azad Bharat Vidhik Vaicharik Kranti Satyagrahi (Free India Legal Ideas Revolutionary Protesters) .

The group had illegally occupied over 100 hectares of government land by setting up makeshift tents to reside in. Their demands include drastic reduction on sale of petrol and diesel and the Indian parliament, the posts of prime minister and president be declared unconstitutional.

Police officials said the members used arms and ammunition and also detonated cooking gas cylinders to resist police action.

In April, the state's high court in Allahabad ordered the squatters to vacate and their refusal prompted Thursday's police action.

Police officials have rushed additional contingents to the city to control the situation. The police claimed recovery of huge arms and ammunition from the squatters.

Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav told media that police should have gone fully prepared but admitted his government was not having information that they might possess that much.

However, the police said they had the information about the weaponry but never thought protesters would open fire on them.

India's federal government on Friday blamed the local government in Uttar Pradesh over the clash.

"There was lapse on the part of the state government and it should ensure that such unfortunate incidents do not recur," India's ministry of home affairs said. Endit