Mathura: In a new twist to the mystery surrounding the death of Mathuran violence mastermind and Swadheen Bharat Subhash Sena leader Ram Vriksha Yadav, his lawyer Tarun Gautam claimed that the body cremated by the police was not of the sect leader and that he is still alive in the police custody.
Speaking to India TV, the lawyer claimed that he had seen pictures of the body, which the police claim to be of Ram Vriksha Yadav, and he was sure that it was not of his client.
“I had been meeting Ram Vriksha Yadav. I recognise him very well. The body claimed by police is his. The face and features of the body in the picture did not match Ram Vriksha Yadav,” he said.
According to Gautam, who claims to represent Yadav in six cases, said that his client did not have so much hair on his head and he was slim.
Gautam also claimed that Ram Vriksha was alive and in police custody by around 8 pm on Thursday, the night of the violence at Jawahar Bagh.
Gautam’s claim contradicts the Uttar Pradesh police report that Yadav died in the clashes at Jawahar Bagh. Director General of Uttar Pradesh Police Javeed Ahmad said that Yadav's body was identified by his associates.
"Some of the dead in Mathura operation identified. Rambriksh Yadav's body identified by associates,” he had said.
Doctors had on Monday conducted post-mortem of Ram Vriksha Yadav, who had led the encraochers of Jawahar Bag, before he was cremated in Vrindavan.
Earlier in the day, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav ordered a judicial probe into the Jawaharbagh violence in the town. A one-man commission headed by the Allahabad High Court's retired Justice Mirza Imtiaz Murtaza has been set up following the decision.
With the judicial probe, the ongoing investigation by the Aligarh District Commissioner into the Mathura violence has been scrapped.
The judicial commission, which will have its headquarters at Lucknow, has been asked to complete the probe vis-a-vis six broad points within two months and submit its findings to the state government.
The commission has also been tasked with suggesting ways to ensure such incidents are not repeated in future.
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