18 hurt as village pradhan, aides open fire; 2 held; Yogi asks ADGP to file report

Land dispute led to a massacre in Ghorawal area of Sonebhadra district on Wednesday when a gram pradhan and his henchmen opened indiscriminate fire on villagers to forcibly take possession of a property.

The firing claimed the lives of as many as 10 persons, including three women, and left 18 injured out of whom the condition of four is said to be critical.

The incident occurred in Murthiya village under Ghorawal police station.

Taking a serious note of the incident, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed the District Magistrate of Sonebhadra to ensure proper treatment to all the injured persons. He also constituted a two-member high-level team to probe the firing.

The CM has asked Divisional Commissioner of Mirzapur and Varanasi Zone ADG to jointly investigate the incident on the causes and fix responsibility for the lapses that led to the incident, and submit report within 24 hours.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav blamed the UP Government for the incident and demanded Rs 20 lakh each for the families of the deceased. “The incident proves that there is no rule of law in the State,” Akhilesh Yadav said.

According to ADG (Law and Order) PV Ramashastri, Murthiya village head Yagya Dutt and his supporters opened fire on the victims following a quarrel over the long-pending land dispute.

Two persons have been arrested in this connection and four police teams of Mirzapur police range are searching the other absconding persons involved in the firing.

The ADG, however, confirmed that nine persons were killed and four injured in the incident and a police force had been deployed in the area though the situation was under control.

However, according to reports received from Sonebhadra, as many as 10 persons were killed and several injured. The reports said 18 injured were rushed to Ghorawal Primary Health Centre (PHC) and about half-a-dozen of them were later referred to Sonebhadra district hospital and four to Varanasi.

DGP OP Singh directed the Vindhyachal (Mirzapur) Range and Sonebhadra district police to monitor the situation and arrest the accused immediately.

According to information, a person had purchased 90 bigha land in this remote area of Ghorawal about two years back and since then he was trying to get its possession. On Wednesday, his men armed with firearms reached there to take possession of the land and this led to the bloody firing when the other side resisted.

ADG Ramashastri also revealed that the local police had already bound down both the parties under Sections 107/116 of CrPC but when the dispute continued, a move was made to attach the property under Section 145 of the CrPC so that the matter could be decided by the court.

He said that senior officers were camping on the spot and situation was tense but under control.