Plea made to court to declare if cult leader Yadav died in 2016 police action in Mathura

A Basti resident has moved a Mathura court demanding to know if his 'guru bhai' and cult leader Ram Vriksh Yadav was killed in June 2016 in police action against him and his followers, staging a sit-in Jawahar Bag here since 2014 or he is still in police custody.

Mathura Chief Judicial Magistrate Rakesh Singh has fixed December 6 to hear the plea of Basti resident Raj Narain Shukla who approached the court, claiming himself to be a "guru bhai" of the cult leader Yadav.

Yadav was allegedly killed in the police action against him and his supporters on June 2, 2016, sitting in the Jawahar Bagh since 2014.

Shukla's counsel L K Gautam said the cult leader should be presumed alive since authorities have not provided any DNA test report confirming his death.

Gautam said the application by Shukla also demands registration of a criminal case against police officials involved in the firing and killings of the cult leader's supporters.

At least 29 people, including two police officers, were killed in the clashes in June 2016 when the police tried to evict the cult members from the compound from where a large cache of arms was also recovered.

After the violence, the Uttar Pradesh Police had said Yadav was among those killed and that his body had been identified by his associates and family.

Yadav and his supporters ran an illegal settlement at Jawahar Bagh in Mathura in Uttar Pradesh for over two-and-a-half years.

Talking to reporters in Mathura earlier after the violence, Gautam had said, "Since the report of scientific investigation (DNA test) has not been submitted to the court so far, it is presumed that he is still alive." Detailing the pleading in the fresh application by Shukla, Gautam said Yadav was sitting on a dharna in the Jawahar Bagh demanding the death certificate of his spiritual teacher Baba Jai Gurudev when the police opened fire.

In the application, Shukla said during the police action, Yadav was forced to sit in a police vehicle when he tried to run away from the spot along with him and his son Vivek Yadav and some others.

"Neither he was sent to jail nor was presented before any court despite a request made by us," Gautam said.

"Disclose whether the cult leader has been killed or is still under the custody of the police," the application said.

"We have been left with no option but to take redressal from the court as the CBI has done nothing on the issue," Shukla said in his application to the court.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)