LUCKNOW: A property dispute resulted in a bloodbath killing half a dozen persons, including five of a family, in Fatehpur village of Rudrapur police station area in the eastern UP district of Deoria on Monday. The incident took place in the Lehda Tola locality in the morning, said the police sources.
As per Special DG, Law and Order, Prashant Kumar, former district panchayat member Prem Yadav, 50, visited Satyaprakash Dubey, 54, for some deliberations over a piece of land. The discussions turned sour and Yadav was attacked with sharp-edged weapons and killed by Dubey and his family on the spot.
After a few hours, Yadav's supporters from Abhaipur arrived in huge numbers at Dubey’s house and retaliated by attacking the family. Yadav’s supporters, carrying weapons, brutally killed Dubey and five of his family, including children.
Besides Dubey, the attackers killed his wife Kiran Dubey, 52, daughters Saloni, 18, and Nandani, 10, and son Gandhi, 15. Moreover, Dubey’s other son Anmol, 8, was injured in the attack and was referred to BRD Medical College, Gorakhpur, where his condition was stated to be critical.
The other members were also rushed to Deoria Medical College where the doctors declared them dead upon arrival.
The violence erupted out of a land dispute the two families were locked in. According to SDG Prashant Kumar, in all 14 persons were taken into custody and an investigation into the incident was on. According to Deoria District Magistrate Akhand Pratap Singh, he got the information about the incident at around 8 am.
“The incident was reported after an altercation between two rival groups which had a history of old enmity turned hot resulting in the killing of a person of a group followed by five others who were found in an unconscious state,” he said.
“The cause behind the incident is stated to be a longstanding land dispute between two families of the village. The brother of Satya Prakash Dubey, Sadhu Dubey had sold his land to Premchand Yadav and the matter was resolved seven years ago,” he said, adding, that a probe was on.
Taking cognizance of the incident, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed the UP SDGP Prashant Kumar and Principal Secretary, Home, Sanjay Prasad to rush to Deoria and initiate strict action against the guilty.
BJP MLA from Deoria Sadar, Shalabh Mani Tripathi, said he was saddened by the killings and would get the matter investigated.
“Heartbroken by the brutal incident that took place in Fatehpur of Rudrapur assembly constituency of Deoria. This type of violation of sanity is absolutely unacceptable,” Tripathi said.
“The matter will be thoroughly investigated and instructions have been given for strict action. The guilty will not be spared and accountability of people of revenue and police administration will also be fixed,” added the BJP MLA.
Superintendent of Police Sankalp Sharma said heavy police deployment has been made in the village considering the sensitive matter involving two castes.