Mathura: 19 held for blocking road, throwing stones at police while protesting cow vigilante’s death

The Uttar Pradesh Police on Sunday said they have arrested 19 persons for allegedly blocking the Delhi-Agra highway and throwing stones at the police after the death of cow vigilante Chandrashekhar, popularly known as “Farsa Wale Baba”, in the Mathura district, PTI reported.

While protesters claimed that Chandrashekhar had been killed by cattle smugglers, the police maintained that he died in a road accident. He was hit by a truck amid dense fog after he stopped a vehicle claiming that it was transporting cattle, the police said.

The authorities alleged that thousands of supporters of the cow vigilante gathered on the national highway on Saturday, blocked traffic for several kilometres, and threw stones at the police while President Droupadi Murmu was in Govardhan town during a three-day visit to Uttar Pradesh, PTI reported.

Several police personnel were injured in the violence, while a police outpost and government vehicles were damaged, the news agency reported.

The police have filed a first information report against a man named Daksh Chaudhary and his associates under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The police alleged that Chaudhary, who hails from Ghaziabad, is a history-sheeter who has allegedly been involved in vandalising and looting vehicles, PTI reported.

Deputy Inspector General of Police Shailesh Pandey told India Today on Saturday that tear gas shells were fired to force the crowd to disperse.

A case has also been filed against the driver of the truck that allegedly hit Chandrashekhar, the cow vigilante and a religious leader in the Braj region.

On Saturday, the police said that Chandrashekhar had stopped a vehicle in the Kosi police station area between 3 am and 4 am, claiming that it was transporting cattle. They said he was killed when he was struck by a truck coming from behind due to dense fog.