Ghazipur villagers refuse to take Ram Vriksh’s body

Residents of Ghazipur’s Raipur Baghpur village have refused to go to Mathura to take the body of Ram Vriksh Yadav, the alleged mastermind of the Jawahar Bagh violence. Raipur Baghpur is the native village of Ram Vriksh. The locals were asked to collect the body as the cult leader’s relatives could not be traced.

Ghazipur district police chief Ram Kishore has sent a report to his Mathura counterpart Rakesh Kumar in this connection. 

Additional superintendent of police Anil Kumar Sisodiya said, “Locals have refused to take body of Ram Vriksh. They have declined to visit Mathura for the purpose. They are shocked and not interested in taking his body. A report about the matter has been sent to the Mathura SSP.” 

Ram Vriksh’s death was confirmed on Saturday. After that, his body was sent for post-mortem. Senior superintendent of police (Mathura) sent a letter to his Ghazipur counterpart, asking him to contact Ram Vriksh’s relatives in his native village and send them to Mathura so that his body could be handed over to them. 

The district police chief instructed Mardah station officer Durgeshwar Mishra to visit Raipur Baghpur village and meet Ram Vriksh’s relatives. Mishra reached the village and met the locals, including village head Shiv Narayan. He asked them to go Mathura to bring the body of Ram Vriksh but the locals refused.

Shiv Narayan and others said that they would not go to claim the body of a person who was reportedly involved in such a “cruel incident” that claimed lives of two brave police officers and two dozen others.

Meanwhile, the district administration has started the process to block the pension that was being given to Ram Vriksh as Loktantra Rakshak Senani. 

Additional district magistrate Anand Kumar Shukla said that district magistrate Sanjay Kumar Khatri has written to his Mathura counterpart and the SSP, seeking details about various activities of Ram Vriksh and his involvement in the violence in order to stop his pension. 

He added after receiving Ram Vriksh’s post-mortem report, his pension would be stopped.