Why Did You Let Armed Mathura Cult Flourish, Akhilesh Yadav Asked: 10 Facts

Union home minister Kiren Rijiju put the onus on the state government, saying it reflected "a big lapse". The state government, Mr Kiren Rijiju said, should take cognizance of it. "We condemn this incident. This kind of incident shouldn't happen...  The Home Minister has also expressed his concern," he added.

The police said the squatters had illegally accumulated nearly 1,000 LPG cylinders which were used to cause explosion and fire. Eleven of the deaths were caused by these blasts.

Earlier today, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had said, "A chook (mistake) has happened, the mistake was the police went without full preparation. There was so much danger involved. No one knew how many explosives were inside" (the illegally occupied park).

Javed Ahmed, who heads the Uttar Pradesh police force, told reporters, "We knew they had arms, didn't think they would fire at us."

Last evening, as policemen gathered at Jawahar Bagh, a 260-acre park, nearly 3,000 members of the sect opened attack. They were armed with swords and grenades. Several, perched on trees for vantage position, shot at the police, who then returned fire.

Superintendent of Police Mukul Dwivedi was killed, along with his colleague Santosh Kumar Yadav. The other victims are members of the sect which appears to have functioned more like a cult. Over 300 members of the sect have been arrested.

Over the last two years, the police had met with violence in repeated attempts to evict the squatters, so it is not clear why they had not anticipated violence. It is also not known how the members of the sect accumulated the huge tranche of weapons that was later recovered from the park without causing any suspicion.

The government has been attacked by the opposition which says that the sect, dominated by the Yadav caste, has been given a free run by the Chief Minister's family, in particular, Shivpal Yadav, who is a minister. "Over the years, their numbers were allowed to grow, ration cards were given to them," said BJP's Shrikant Sharma.

Yesterday's clearance operation was launched after authorities won a court order to remove hundreds of tents and makeshift wooden structures from the park.

Members of the Swadhin Bharat Vidhik Satyagrah sect describe themselves on social media as political and social revolutionaries. Their demands include the abolition of elections and cheaper fuel for everyone.