LUCKNOW: After generating much political heat during her visit to Umbha village in Sonbhadra district last month, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is likely to visit the same village again on Tuesday. She would meet the victim families during her visit.
In a massacre following a dispute over a 90-bigha piece of land, at least 10 Gond tribals were killed and over 26 injured by the village head Yagya Dutt and hundreds of his accomplices in Umbha village on July 17.
The village head and his aides had opened indiscriminate fire on the tribals who were resisting his attempt to take possession of the tribal's farm land. The gram panchayat land was illegally sold to the village head in 2017 and since then he had made several attempts to take its possession but failed.
In the aftermath of the massacre, the state government had removed DM and SSP of the district and suspended over 15 officers initiating legal proceeding
against them.
When Priyanka had attempted to visit the victims’ families after the incident, she was stopped at Mirzapur by the district administration and was detained at Chunar Guest House on July 19, as Section 144 of CrPC was in force then.
Refusing to leave without meeting the victim families, she had spent the night at the guest house and finally met some of the victim families who were brought to the guest house.
Following her visit, the Congress had sent Rs 10 lakh financial assistance to the 10 victim families. “Now she is coming to meet the victims once again. If the district administration feared law and order issues as the massacre had just taken place, there should be no reason to worry now. She will be visiting Umbha village where she will meet the families,” said a party functionary.