45 followers of UP cult leader sentenced to 3 years in jail for assaulting govt employees
A local court Monday sentenced 45 people to three years' imprisonment for assaulting government employees and creating hindrance in their functioning in a case involving the followers of a cult leader who had clashed with police at Jawahar Bagh here in 2016, leading to about 30 deaths.
According to the prosecution, Additional Civil Judge (Senior Division-II) Jahendra Pal Singh pronounced the verdict.
Fifty-two people were booked for the attack on employees of the horticulture department on March 15, 2016 when they went to harvest potatoes from a land, then illegally occupied by the followers of cult leader Ram Vriksh Yadav.
The judge acquitted two women accused and the trial against five accused was partially pending due to their non-appearance in court.
The court also slapped fine of Rs 2,300 each on the convicts.
Yadav and his supporters ran an illegal settlement at Jawahar Bagh in Mathura in Uttar Pradesh for over two-and-a-half years.
At least 29 people were killed in clashes in ..