Bharatpur seer Vijay Das, who set himself on fire demanding suspension of mining activities in some iconic hills of the district, died while undergoing treatment in New Delhi in the early hours of Saturday.
Das on 20 July set himself on fire Nearby police are running to douse the fire in Pasopa village of Bharatpur. Das and others had been opposing mining in the Adibari and Kankachal hills of Bharatpur for about 15 months, which were considered sacred by some. Another seer, Narayan Das, had climbed a mobile phone tower demanding a ban on mining activities.
Das’s body is being taken to Barsana in Mathura for the last rites. The Man Mandir Seva Sansthan, which organizes the Braj 84 Kos Parikrama, is located in Barsana and Das is said to have been associated with it. However, while talking to reporters in Delhi, BJP Lok Sabha Bharatpur MP Ranjita Koli alleged that the bodies were being forcibly taken to Barsana.
Demanding a CBI probe, Koli said, “We had said that (remains) should be taken to Pasopa even for five minutes, but the administration is under pressure from the Congress government.”
Earlier, Bharatpur District Magistrate Alok Ranjan had said that all the mines are legal. “I want to clarify that the mines – 11 in Kankachal and 34 in Adibadri – were allotted between 2000 and 2018 and are all legal.” However, after the seer’s self-immolation, the state government had announced that the land in question would be declared as forest land, thus effectively stopping all mining activities on the hills.