The CPI (M) on Saturday condemned the killings in Sonbhadra and accused the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government of “protecting” the land mafias.

After a CPI (M) delegation visited Ubbha village on Friday to meet the families of the victims, the party said in a statement that the villagers told the six-member delegation “horrifying” details of the clash.

Ten people were gunned down and 28 injured in the clash between supporters of Ubbah village headman Yagya Dutt and the tribal villagers on Wednesday.

“The Adivasis have been tilling the land for the past seven decades but no government gave them land pattas which was their right. After the Adityanath government took office, the Adivasis have been threatened by the local land mafia to stop tilling the land. Even though the Adivasis had complained to the authorities, the government and administration refused to act.

“The Adityanath government is trying to put the responsibility on others but it is during its rule that the land mafia led by the pradhan claimed to have ‘bought’ the land and unleashed terror on the Adivasis. It is highly condemnable that the government has not given a single rupee to help the injured and on the contrary some were forcibly discharged from the hospital,” the party said in the statement.

The party alleged that the BJP government was responsible for “protecting the land mafia and denying land pattas to the Adivasis”.

“The CPI (M) demands that land pattas be immediately given to the Adivasi families who have been tilling the land for over seven decades. It demands strong action against the administration officials and the police who connived with the criminals and immediate arrest and stringent punishment of all those involved in the brutal massacre. It demands immediate compensation to the families of those killed and to the injured,” the statement said.