Agra: Tension prevailed in Agra due to a standoff between members of the Radhasoami Satsang Sabha and the local administration as the Sadar tahsildar has issued a notice imposing a fine of Rs 99.50 crore on Satsang Sabha for occupying 10 hectares of government land in Khaspur and Jaganpur near Dayalbagh. Similarly, the district administration has gathered all the evidence to declare Radha Swami Satsang Sabha President Guru Prasad Sood, Vice-President Prem Prakash Srivastava, Vice-President Anup Srivastava and RB Yadav as land mafia.
The clash erupted when a team from the local administration and police personnel arrived in the Dayalbagh locality on Saturday to remove "illegal encroachments" by the Satsang Sabha on the government land. A stampede-like situation arose in which several people, including journalists, were injured.
Also read: Radha Soami Satsang Sabha members clash with police in Agra, cops resort to lathi-charge
On Saturday, local administration reached Dayalbagh to remove illegal encroachments from the government land and bulldozers were pressed into service. The followers of Radha Soami Satsang Sabha, along with the local people opposed this. The administration demolished the gate installed at the spot, but the Radha Soami Satsang Sabha installed a second gate within a few hours.
Following this, the Revenue Department filed a case against 12 members of the Satsang Sabha while the local administration demolished the second gate. On Sunday evening, followers of Radha Soami Satsang Sabha started protesting against the government's move and attempted to re-occupy the government land.
On Sunday, taking to X (formally known as Twitter), Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav wrote in Hindi, "The followers of Radhasoami sect are exemplary all over the world for their spirituality, love, compassion and Satsang. Dayalbagh has always been a symbol of faith, harmony, service and education. Now on the land of Dayalbagh, the ruling party and the police-administration together are engaged in serving the selfish interests of BJP leaders.
"This is a fatal attack on the great Indian tradition of Satsang, which the faithful and peace-loving Radhaswami followers are strongly opposing. Samajwadi Party stands with Radhaswami Satsang in protest against this injustice and is supporting in every way the campaign to save Dayalbagh. People will not tolerate BJP's anti-religious bulldozing," he added.
