Uttar Pradesh Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday blamed the Congress’s policies for the Sonbhadra shooting incident and announced the suspension of a sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) and four policemen in connection with the matter.

Adityanath said the origin of the incident could be traced back to 1955 and 1989 when the Congress was in power in Uttar Pradesh.

Amid noisy scenes, Adityanath first read out a written statement in the assembly about the action taken by his government. Later, he targeted the Congress while speaking to reporters at the Central Hall of the state assembly.

His attack on the Congress came on a day on which party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was detained by police in Chunar town of Mirzapur district when she was on her way to Sonbhadra to meet the families of those killed in Wednesday’s incident.

“The origin of this incident can be traced back to 1955 when the land of Umbha ‘gram sabha’ was registered in the name of Adarsh Cooperative Society. In 1989, this land was transferred in the name of an individual. On both occasions, the Congress was in power in the state,” Adityanath said, addressing reporters.

Earlier, Adityanath said in the assembly that those suspended included the sub divisional magistrate of Ghorawal, the circle officer of Ghorawal and the inspector, Ghorawal police station, along with a sub inspector and a beat constable.

“Despite the dispute between the two factions in the past and apprehensions of the breach of peace, adequate action was not taken by the officers. The SDM, circle officer and inspector, all posted in Ghorawal, have been suspended on the basis of the report of the probe committee constituted on July 17. The beat sub-inspector and constable have also been suspended,” the chief minister said in the state assembly.

He said a committee headed by the additional chief secretary (revenue) had been constituted to scrutinise documents to ascertain whether registration, transfer and selling of ‘gram sabha’ land was done as per law.

He also said additional director general (ADG), Varanasi zone, was asked to fix responsibility for the lapses in registering criminal cases against both the parties and in taking preventive action before the July 17 incident.

The committee had been asked to submit its report within 10 days, he said.

He made the announcement even as the opposition members, mainly those of the Samajwadi Party, continued to display placards and shouted slogans against his government.

The chief minister said 29 people, including the village pradhan (main accused), and his brother were arrested.

Soon after the House assembled, question hour scheduled to begin at 11am proved a non-starter amid the din over the Sonbhadra shooting incident.

As there were frequent adjournments due to repeated protests, the assembly was adjourned for the day at about 3pm.

First Published: Jul 20, 2019 08:44 IST