24 dead in clashes as sect evicted in India

New Delhi : Clashes between Indian police and followers of a revolutionary sect have left at least 24 dead after an operation to evict thousands of people from parkland erupted into violence, officials said yesterday.

Two police officers were among those killed in the overnight clashes during a move to expel around 3,000 sect followers who had illegally occupied public land in the state of Uttar Pradesh for the last two years.

Police and other officials said they came under fire from members of the sect who were armed with automatic weapons and also hurled crude explosive devices during the violence in the northern city of Mathura.

“They were firing at us from tree-tops. Others were hurling stones or assaulting us with sticks and other weapons. Two of our men were wounded and they died in hospital,” said Uttar Pradesh police chief Javeed Ahmad.

“Soon after the attack, we got reinforcements and launched a counter-attack on the camp and successfully cleared the area.”

Speaking to reporters in Mathura, Ahmad said some of the Swadhin Bharat Vidhik Satyagrah sect’s followers had set fire to huts which were storing gas cylinders and explosives during the clearance operation.