UP police trace Maoist angle in Mathura

The UP police are now probing Maoist angle in the Mathura clashes. According to an investigating official, they have seized mobile phones from Jawahar Bagh and the arrested people, with numbers “supposedly” belonging to Maoists. “We have shortlisted some numbers that supposedly belong to Maoists and we have put them on surveillance. We are also interrogating some close aides of Ram Vriksh Yadav, the mastermind of the clashes”, the official disclosed.

“Apparently, Ram Vriksh worked as a conduit for these groups, both for money and arms supply. There are a few numbers on which he had been regularly in touch. Before zeroing down on these people, we are tracking the numbers, their locations and conversations,” the official added.

The police believe that Ram Vriksh could not have single-handedly created this “empire” in Jawahar Bagh and neither did he have the resources to keep 3,000 odd people with him. “This is just not possible without external support—financial and otherwise”, the official added.

A huge amount of ammunition and explosives have been found during the combing operation at Jawahar Bagh.

The police have announced a reward of Rs 5000 each for three aides of Ram Vriksh Yadav who are missing. The aides are Chandan Bose a.k.a. Chandan Gaur, Rakesh Gupta and Viresh.

The Maoist angle in the Mathura violence gains credence due to the fact that even 72 hours after the incident, 18 bodies remain unclaimed. The police feel that the bodies could be of Maoists who were working with Ram Vriksh.