Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday visited Sonbhadra district’s Umbha village to meet the families of the 10 people killed there in a clash over a land dispute four days earlier. He announced an increase in the compensation for the families and a timebound completion of an inquiry into the killings.

Adityanath reiterated that the killings were a political conspiracy to defame his government and blamed the Congress’s “sins” for the sufferings in the village. “The foundation of this [land] dispute was laid in 1955 when the agricultural land on which tribals used to practice traditional agriculture was transferred to a trust set up by a Congress Rajya Sabha member wrongly. In 1989, the Congress government in Uttar Pradesh transferred the land to individual members of the trust,” he said.

Adityanath said that the main accused in the killings, village head Yagya Dutt, and other assailants were affiliated to the Samajwadi Party (SP), which allegedly protected and gave them shelter.

He also accused Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra of shedding “crocodile tears” over killings of the farmers. Priyanka Gandhi met relatives of the 10 at a guest house in Mirzapur district on Saturday a day after she was detained and prevented from going to Sonbhadra.

On Sunday, Priyanka Gandhi welcomed Adityanath’s visit to Sonbhadra. “It may be late, but standing with the affected people is the duty of the government. Knowing one’s duty is good,” she tweeted.

SP state spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary rejected Adityanath’s statement linking the accused to his party. “Who is running the state government, they [BJP] or us [SP]. It is the state government’s responsibility... Right from day one, we have been demanding the toughest action against the culprits. The SP has nothing to do with the culprits. Instead of owning up, Adityanath is shifting the blame.” He said that the BJP government has been looking for excuses.

Adityanath earlier said it will also be investigated how the disputed piece of land was registered in Dutt’s name. He announced ~18.50 lakh compensation each for the kin of 10 and ~2.5 lakh each for those injured.

The government had initially announced ~5 lakh compensation each for the families of the 10 and ~50,000 for the injured.

Adityanath said a three-member committee has been formed to probe the incident and it will submit its report within 10 days. “Once the probe report comes in, exemplary action will be ensured against police officials who failed to solve the land dispute,” he said. “None of the accused would be spared. Strict and toughest action would be ensued against each of them,” he said. Adityanath said a police outpost would be set up in Umbha and land will be identified for the construction of a school. He also assured a house to every poor villager within a month.

Earlier in the day, about 40 SP and Congress workers were taken into custody before chief minister Yogi Adityanath arrived here on Sunday to meet the next of kin of the Sonbhadra victims as there was information that they may stage a protest during the chief minister’s visit, a police officer said. On the other hand, a Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) delegation managed to meet the family members of the victims while a Bahujan Samaj Party team will visit Umbha village, where the killings took place, on Monday.

First Published: Jul 21, 2019 23:47 IST