On 2 June 2016, police trying to clear Jawahar Bagh, a 280-acre public park in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, were met with gunfire and explosions from a group that had occupied it since 2014 under Ram Vriksh Yadav. PTI put the dead at 29, including SP (City) Mukul Dwivedi and SHO Santosh Yadav. In 2017 the Allahabad High Court handed the case to the CBI, which filed a chargesheet in December 2022. The trial is still running in a CBI court.
Key takeaways
- This was an armed occupation, not a typical street protest. A group calling itself the Swadheen Bharat Subhash Sena held Jawahar Bagh from March 2014 and ran what the High Court called "a sort of an independent township" there.
- On 2 June 2016 members of the group fired on police and set off gas cylinder blasts. SP (City) Mukul Dwivedi and SHO Santosh Yadav were among those killed; PTI put the final toll at 29.
- The BJP alleged that the group had political patronage from Samajwadi Party minister Shivpal Yadav. He called the charges "baseless", and the Akhilesh Yadav government said there was no political pressure on police.
- The Allahabad High Court called the state police probe "flawed, incomplete and unscientific" and transferred it to the CBI on 2 March 2017. The CBI filed a chargesheet in Ghaziabad in December 2022, and hearings were still going on in August 2026.
Background: the occupation of Jawahar Bagh
As the Allahabad High Court recorded, Ram Vriksh Yadav arrived at Jawahar Bagh, a 280-acre public park in the centre of Mathura, with a group of supporters in March 2014. Despite "numerous interventions" by the district administration, they refused to leave. Over time they got domestic gas connections and set up "a sort of an independent township" LiveLaw.
Aaj Tak reported that the group came on 15 March 2014 to hold a demonstration. Ram Vriksh Yadav had permission from the administration to stay for two days, but the group never left Aaj Tak. Horticulture Department officers alleged that the occupiers cut 3,000 to 4,000 trees for cooking and other uses LiveLaw.
ANI named the group the Swadheen Bharat Subhash Sena. PTI called it Azad Bharat Vidhik Vaicharik Kranti Satyagrahi, an outfit claiming allegiance to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose ANI via Business Standard PTI via Business Standard.
What the group demanded
ANI reported that the occupiers wanted the "cancellation of the elections" of the President and Prime Minister, cheap diesel and petrol, and replacement of the existing currency ANI via Business Standard. The Quint said the currency was to be replaced with "Azad Hind Fauj" currency, and that the group wanted diesel at 60 litres and petrol at 40 litres for one rupee The Quint.
PTI reported that around 3,000 squatters ran "a parallel administration", kept outsiders out and built huts and toilets PTI via Business Standard.
The eviction order
Mathura resident Vijay Pal Singh Tomar went to the Allahabad High Court, which ordered the park cleared. In May 2016 the court dismissed a plea against that order and fined Ram Vriksh Yadav Rs 50,000, Aaj Tak reported Aaj Tak. The district administration had set a deadline of 15 April for the group to leave and had tried and failed to evict it on 25 May Scroll.
What happened on 2 June 2016
On the evening of 2 June a police team led by SP (City) Mukul Dwivedi went to Jawahar Bagh. PTI described it as a recce that came under attack PTI via Business Standard. ANI said the clash lasted almost four hours and more than 100 people were injured, including City Magistrate Ram Araj Yadav ANI.
ADG (Law and Order) Daljeet Singh Chaudhary said the group opened fire and threw grenades at police. District Magistrate Rajesh Kumar said people fired automatic weapons from positions in treetops ANI The Quint. The High Court later said the occupiers used country-made pistols and set fire to almost 175 gas cylinders LiveLaw.
Farah SHO Santosh Yadav was hit by two bullets and declared dead on arrival at hospital. Dwivedi died later of bullet injuries ANI. DGP Javed Ahmed said 11 people died in the fire Scroll.
The death toll
Early counts rose from 22 to 24 to 27 Scroll PTI. PTI later gave 29 dead, and the CBI's case also refers to 29 deaths PTI Amar Ujala. The High Court's 2017 order and an ANI report in 2022 gave 28 LiveLaw ANI via Dynamite News.
Weapons recovered
Police seized 47 locally made pistols, six rifles and 178 live cartridges, the DGP said Scroll. A reported US-made rocket launcher was an old 37mm tear gas gun, SP Babloo Kumar said False PTI via Asianet Newsable.
Timeline
Group arrives
Given two days' permission to stay, the group settles in the park Aaj Tak.
Police come under attack
Gunfire, grenades and cylinder blasts; Dwivedi and Santosh Yadav are killed ANI.
High Court orders CBI probe
The High Court calls the state investigation flawed LiveLaw.
CBI chargesheet
The CBI files a 770-page chargesheet in its Ghaziabad court Amar Ujala.
Trial hearing
Seized cartridges are opened in court, and a former sub-inspector gives evidence Amar Ujala.
Both accounts
We found no statement from the group itself after the clash. The dispute was between the state government and its critics over who let the occupation last so long.
Critics' account: patronage and inaction
Claim · BJP BJP president Amit Shah accused Shivpal Yadav, a state minister and Mulayam Singh Yadav's brother, of shielding the group and asked for his resignation. He said a minister "sitting in the secretariat patronises them and does not allow police to retaliate" PTI via Business Standard. BJP leader Shrikant Sharma said "Forty intelligence reports" had warned of weapons and cylinders being stockpiled at the site The Tribune.
Archana Dwivedi, the slain SP's wife, told the Supreme Court in 2020 that her husband was sent in with only a few newly recruited policemen who were not allowed to carry firearms Claim · petitioner LiveLaw.
State government and police account
Government's position In a report to the Centre, the Akhilesh Yadav government denied that police had been pressured not to evict the group. It blamed local police for misjudging the situation and said they had been forced to act before they were ready PTI. Akhilesh Yadav admitted a lapse: "The mistake was the police went without full preparation." He added, "It wasn't an intelligence failure" IANS via Business Standard.
Later he accused the BJP of trying "to make Mathura violence an electoral issue". He said the government deliberately did not use much force at the park because women and children were there, and added, "We have no faith in the CBI" Deccan Herald. Shivpal Yadav said Shah was "giving baseless statements" PTI. Police position DGP Javed Ahmed called the firing "unprovoked" ANI.
No court has found that any politician patronised the group No evidence in the public record we found. The High Court did raise the question in 2017. It asked how, without "patronage or support", the occupiers got gas, electricity and water for 3,000 people, and why the state made no effort to arrest Ram Vriksh Yadav LiveLaw.
Is Ram Vriksh Yadav dead?
On 4 June 2016 police said associates had identified Ram Vriksh Yadav's body among the 11 burned to death PTI. Within two weeks, a Mathura court hearing an older case against him refused to accept this and ordered a DNA test PTI.
In April 2017 the Central Forensic Science Laboratory in Hyderabad reported that DNA from the body did not match his son's. IANS via NewsGram. In 2021 his lawyer said he should be presumed alive because no DNA report had been filed in court PTI via The Tribune. In 2026 Amar Ujala reported that he is named among the accused in the CBI chargesheet and that he died during the incident Amar Ujala. We found no court ruling that settles the question.
Inquiries and the CBI case
On 7 June 2016 the state set up a one-member commission under retired High Court judge Mirza Imtiyaz Murtaza. By 28 July it had recorded the statements of 127 people Oneindia. In April 2017, after the CBI was brought in, the state Home Department stopped the inquiry on Governor Ram Naik's direction Aaj Tak. We found no report from the commission that was made public.
On 7 June 2016 the Supreme Court had dismissed a plea for a CBI probe from BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay, saying he had shown no proof of state inaction Scroll. On 2 March 2017 a bench of Chief Justice DB Bhosale and Justice Yashwant Varma framed 15 questions the state probe had not answered and ordered two CBI teams. One team was to look at the clash and the other at the state's "unexplained inaction" despite intelligence inputs LiveLaw PTI.
The CBI was slow. In May 2017 the court rebuked it for asking for more time PTI. In July 2020 Archana Dwivedi told the Supreme Court that politicians and bureaucrats had still not been questioned National Herald.
On 6 December 2022, CBI Deputy SP Deepak Gaur filed a 770-page chargesheet in the CBI court in Ghaziabad Amar Ujala. Later that month the High Court allowed the trial to go ahead. It sent the CBI's sealed report on official negligence to the chief secretary for action against errant officers ANI via Dynamite News.
Outcome and where things stand
- Arrests: 67 people had been arrested and 310 detained by 4 June 2016, per police. Scroll reported 368 arrests by 7 June PTI Scroll.
- Compensation: Families of the two officers got Rs 50 lakh each, an extraordinary pension and a job for one member PTI.
- Chargesheet: According to Amar Ujala, the CBI chargesheet names 90 accused, including Ram Vriksh Yadav and Chandan Bose. Four accused had died in jail by 2022 Amar Ujala Amar Ujala.
- Trial: On 5 August 2026 Special Judge Bharat Singh Yadav opened 17 seized cartridges, which were resealed for forensic testing. The next date was 17 August 2026 Amar Ujala.
- Politicians: No politician has been charged in the reporting we found.
Questions people ask
What happened at Jawahar Bagh in Mathura?
On 2 June 2016 police moved to clear a public park that a group led by Ram Vriksh Yadav had held since 2014. The group fired on police and set off gas cylinder blasts. PTI put the death toll at 29, including two police officers.
Did the Samajwadi Party protect the group?
The BJP said so, naming Shivpal Yadav. He called the charges baseless, and the Akhilesh Yadav government denied any political pressure on police. No court has made a finding on the claim.
What is the status of the CBI case?
The CBI filed a chargesheet in December 2022. The trial was in the evidence stage at the CBI court in August 2026.
Sources
- ANI via Business Standard: Mathura clashes: Congress corners UP Govt., taunts police ignorance, 3 June 2016
- Scroll: Mathura clashes: Two policemen among 22 dead in violence, 124 arrested so far, 3 June 2016
- IANS via Business Standard: Mathura violence: 24 people dead, blame-game erupts, 3 June 2016
- The Quint: The Police Were Not Prepared: Akhilesh Yadav on Mathura Violence, June 2016
- The Quint: Mathura violence, from activists to encroachers, 4 June 2016
- PTI via Business Standard: Mathura violence: Sect chief among the dead, says UP police, 4 June 2016
- PTI via Business Standard: No pressure on police to not evict Mathura squatters: UP Govt, 6 June 2016
- PTI via Business Standard: 'Lust for money, illegal politics' led to Mathura violence: Amitabh Thakur, 6 June 2016
- The Tribune: BJP: Ammo used by cult belonged to UP police armoury, 7 June 2016
- Scroll: Mathura violence: Supreme Court dismisses plea seeking CBI investigation into incident, 7 June 2016
- Deccan Herald: We have no faith in CBI, June 2016
- PTI via Asianet Newsable: Jawahar Bagh: No rocket-launcher recovered, June 2016
- PTI via Business Standard: Court rejects police claim that Ram Vriksha is dead, orders DNA test, 17 June 2016
- Oneindia: Jawahar Bagh case: Commission records statements of 127 persons, 28 July 2016
- LiveLaw: Allahabad HC Transfers Jawahar Bagh Massacre Probe To CBI, 3 March 2017
- Aaj Tak: Yogi government stops judicial inquiry into Jawahar Bagh case, CBI to probe (Hindi), 12 April 2017
- IANS via NewsGram: Ram Vriksh Yadav may be alive as DNA doesn't match with his son's, 17 April 2017
- PTI via Business Standard: HC raps CBI over tardy probe in Jawahar Bagh case of Mathura, 2 May 2017
- LiveLaw: 2016 Jawahar Bagh Massacre: Plea In SC Seeks Expeditious Investigation By CBI, 13 July 2020
- National Herald: Wife of slain Mathura SP moves SC for expeditious investigation, 13 July 2020
- PTI via The Tribune: Cult leader Ram Vriksh Yadav should be presumed alive, says his lawyer, 6 August 2021
- Amar Ujala: CBI filed charge sheet in Ghaziabad court (Hindi), 6 December 2022
- ANI via Dynamite News: Jawahar Bagh Incident: Allahabad HC Orders Filing Of Chargesheet, 22 December 2022
- Amar Ujala: Jawahar Bagh case: 17 cartridges opened in CBI court (Hindi), 6 August 2026