PICS: Mathura violence toll rises to 24

The number of those killed in yesterday’s violence and police action here has risen to 24, including two police officers and a woman. Uttar Pradesh DGP Javed Ahmad said at a press conference here that among the killed were 22 rioters who had hidden a huge cachet of arms in the huts. Eleven of the rioter perished in the fire they themselves had caused . He said that so far 130 people had been arrested and they would be slapped with the NSA. The violence had erupted yesterday when the police had tried to evict encroachers illegally occupying a prime area.