Mathura violence: RSS man trained cult members, says security ‘chief’

Veeresh Yadav, who carried a reward of Rs 15,000 on his head, was arrested by Mathura Police Wednesday along with his wife Lalita Devi and two children.

Indian Express/June 30, 2016

The “commandant” of the cult group that clashed with police in Mathura’s Jawahar Bagh on June 2 has claimed that the squatters were trained in stick-fighting by “a local RSS leader named Rajveer alias Guruji”.

Veeresh Yadav, who carried a reward of Rs 15,000 on his head, was arrested by Mathura Police Wednesday along with his wife Lalita Devi and two children. Veeresh, a native of Badaun, claimed himself to be the “commandant” at the camp where he was in charge of the security. He told police he manned the “12 check posts” inside the camp and it was his duty to ensure “no one gets in or goes out without permission”.

Veeresh spoke of the “RSS leader” as “an important member of the camp” run by Ram Vriksh Yadav, the cult group’s leader who was killed in the clash along with 28 other people, including two police officers, during the eviction drive.

“Veeresh Yadav has claimed that one Rajveer Singh of Agra, who has links with the RSS, used to impart training to the inmates of Jawahar Bagh,” SSP Babloo Kumar told reporters in Mathura Wednesday. “We are trying to locate this person (Rajveer) and his alleged RSS links are being investigated,” he added.

The SSP added that Veeresh “used to give shooting training to the members of the camp”. “We are expecting to get the locations of Vivek and Raj Narain, both sons of Ram Vriksh Yadav who too were living in the camp with him.”

Mathura SP (City) Alok Priyardarshi said police will make Rajveer an accused “only after his criminal connections with the camp have been established”.

The RSS has rubbished the claims about one of its members being associated with the camp. The organisation’s prachar head (Braj region), Pradeep Kumar said there was “no one by the name of Rajveer” in the RSS.

“Since the members of Samajwadi Party are seem to be involved in this (Jawahar Bagh) issue, Sangh is being dragged into the matter,” he said.

Veeresh is the third most important member of the cult group, after Rakesh Gupta (financer) and Chandan Bose (the second-in-command), to have been arrested.

The SSP said some of Veeresh’s statements corroborated those of Chandan. Veeresh has told police that Ram Vriksh had set up 12 check posts at the camp and these were manned by 200 volunteers who worked on six-hour shifts. After the police started carrying out reconnaissance of the 270-acre government plot that the group had been encroaching upon for over two years, the strength of these check posts was increased from 200 to 300 volunteers, added the SSP.

Besides, Ram Vriksh had appointed ‘darogas’ (inspectors) for patrolling and there were 19 squads each with a strength of 15-20 young boys who were “great fighters”, the official said. Veeresh told police during interrogation that Ram Vriksh collected jewellery from the women and cash from the men in the name of Baba Jai Gurudev. The cash and jewellery were kept with a person known as ‘Doctor’ who hailed from Hardoi, Kumar said, and added that “another Doctor Upen” was in charge of medical requirements of the squatters.

Ram Vriksh’s charred body was identified by his lawyer Tarani Kumar Gautam who demanded that it be handed over to his daughter who resided in Delhi. The police, though, had refused to hand over the body to the woman, identified as Gudiya. Veeresh has told police that Gudiya “was not Ram Vriksh’s biological daughter but was treated like a daughter”, SSP Kumar said.