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Uneasy calm prevailed in areas around Jawaharbagh in Mathura a day after violent clashes between police and members of a sect claimed 24 lives as a large posse of police and paramilitary personnel kept strict vigil forcing locals to stay indoors.
Jawaharbagh, which had been teemed with thousands of encroachers who set up their tents for a couple years, wore an eerie silence as policemen blocked its only entry point, through which thousands of protesters had fled on Thursday.
Neighbourhood resident Kaptan Singh who was employed at the office of Mathura District Magistrate, said "Around 4.30 pm on Thursday, a huge posse of police and Provincial Armed Constabulary personnel had gathered outside Jawaharbagh to remove the encroachers. Superintendent of police Mukul Dwivedi was last heard announcing to the encroachers to leave the land urging them to cooperate with the administration and the police."
While the police force was getting ready for the anti-encroachment operation, firing started from the walled Jawaharbagh, he claimed.
"It was like a rain of bullets and we locked ourselves inside our house and remained there till the deafening noise of the guns silenced," said local shopkeeper Rajender.
"When we came out of our house around 5.30 pm, we saw policemen running frantically towards the main road. In a few minutes we realised that the Station Officer (Fara) was shot dead and the SP City had also sustained bullet injury. The two of them along with three others were being rushed to hospital," he said.
On Friday over 200 police officers from Mathura and nearby districts including Agra, Badayun, Muradabad, were deployed in the area to ensure that no law-and-order problem arose in the wake of the violence.
A huge posse of media persons also camped in the area and locals thronged the site interacting with them and sharing their experiences.
Farther away from Jawaharbagh, Mathura city retained its normal daily routine with people talking about the incident and expressing their shock over it.
Another local Brij Mohan Sharma said the protesters had set hundreds of camps on fire and the entire sky was lit up with a crimson tinge.
"The locals were terrified and started filling up buckets with water for a potential fire operation," Sharma said.
The locals expressed curiosity as to what led the protesters to mount a "sudden attack" on the police.
"The policemen were encircling Jawaharbagh and announcements were being made by the officials asking the encroachers to leave the place peacefully and all of a sudden they started firing and throwing grenades," Sharma said.
Another local Sanjeev expressed surprise over the attack saying "the police used to come here every week to put pressure on the encroachers to leave the government land but never in the past they reacted and attacked them like this."
Locals even claimed that they had seen SP City Dwivedi going to the Jawaharbagh on several occasions to persuade them to leave the land.
The family members of Station House Officer Santosh Yadav took his mortal remains to his native place in Agra while the SP City Dwivedi was cremated at Masani cremation ground.
Dwivedi's father accompanied by minor sons of the deceased officer was present at the cremation ground.
He alleged the SSP and the DM knew that the land was grabbed since two years and took no action and then sent his son to vacate it.
Dwivedi's mother said she doesn't want any money from the government but her son back.
"I don't want compensation. I want my son back. They sent my son to Mathura to get him killed," she said.