BJP protesters lathicharged in Mathura

Mathura/Agra: Thousands of BJP members gheroaed officials of the Mathura collectorate on Wednesday, keeping some of them captive for over four hours. The protest was organised against the delay in release of compensation money to farmers affected by the untimely rains of March and April this year. The BJP members were also protesting the rising crime in the district. Policemen resorted to lathicharge to disperse the crowd in the evening.
BJP workers joined farmers, who marched to the collectorate and laid siege to it. Many farmers had still to receive the cheques of compensation money they had been promised earlier.
Anti-state government slogans were raised by the marchers, who walked through the lanes of Mathura to gather at the district collectorate around 12 noon. Traffic was paralysed for hours by the mass gathering on the roads.
Demonstrators earlier supposed to stage a dharna outside the collectorate tried to enter the administrative block. A huge contingent of police personnel was called in by the district magistrate. By late evening, when the protesters appeared unmoved by all the pleas, police lathicharged them to clear the premises of the collectorate.
Some protesters were injured in the lathicharge.
The protesters submitted a memorandum to district magistrate Rajesh Kumar, demanding quick distribution of relief cheques to farmers. Protesters also said cops must act swiftly to check the rising rate of crime in the district and told the administration they were serving it a 15-day ultimatum.
Protesters said a bigger demonstration would be held if their demands were not immediately met.
District BJP president DP Goyal told TOI that police had failed abysmally in controlling crime. He said he had witnessed total “gunda gardi” (utter lawlessness) in the name of demolition of illegal encroachments. Traders were being harassed, he said, adding that canals remained unclean, and nothing was done to save the Yamuna from pollution.
Goyal said district roads were a shambles, and huge funds of the government were not flowing into work that needed to be done.
SP City Shailesh Kumar Pandey said the BJP had taken permission for the rally, but protesters were not allowed to enter the collectorate premises and disrupt activity there. He said when policemen attempted to halt protesters from entering the collectorate, some people just broke shut doors open. He said the large numbers of people gathered in protest had jammed roads and locked collectorate staff in their offices. “Police will access video footage and then decide on the course of action,” the SP said.