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‘Deoria violence could have been averted had officials initiated proper action’
Police did not initiate preventive measures under provisions of Section 117/116 of the CrPC despite being aware about the dispute between Dubey and Yadav families, says ADG
LUCKNOW Satya Prakash Dubey, 54, who was among the six people killed over a land dispute in Fatehpur village of UP’s Deoria distrct, had made multiple complaints regarding the illegal possession of plots by former zila panchayat member Prem Chand Yadav, life threat to him from Yadav, but all these apparently fell on deaf ears till the violence erupted on October 2. The complaints were made to revenue and police officials between 2019 and 2023.
A ground report suggested that the incident could have been averted had revenue and police officials initiated proper action, said a senior government official.
“Police did not initiate preventive measures under provisions of Section 117/116 of the CrPC despite being aware about the dispute between Dubey and Yadav families. They also did not initiate cancellation of Prem Chand Yadav and his family members’ firearms licences when he and his aides were chargesheeted in an attack case in 2021,” said Akhil Kumar, ADG, Gorakhpur zone.
Yadav, 53, was hacked to death allegedly by Dubey and his family members when he went to their house in the village. In retaliation, people linked to Yadav killed Dubey, his wife Kiran Devi, 52, his son Gandhi, (15), and daughters Saloni, 17 and Nandini, 10.
On Thursday, 15 revenue and police officials were suspended after the intervention of chief minister Yogi Adityanath. These officials included ones who were posted in the district at the time of incident and those who did not initiate proper action while remaining posted there in the past. The CM sought a ground report from principal secretary (home), Sanjay Prasad and special DG (law and order) Prashant Kumar with regard to the incident and directed action against officials concerned while reviewing the report.
Another police official claimed that most of the police personnel posted in Rudrapur tehsil of the village worked under the influence of slain Prem Chand Yadav. They also gave an adverse report about the threat to Satya Prakash Dubey and his family, he said.
He said departmental inquiry was initiated against the then CO, Rudrapur, Dinesh Kumar Singh Yadav, after negligence was found in disposal of Intergrated Grievance Redressal System (IGRS) cases.
A senior government official said an inquiry report on the incident revealed negligence by officers and employees posted in Rudrapur tehsil of Deoria. It was found that Satya Prakash Dubey had lodged several complaints regarding the illegal occupation of ‘gram samaj’ land by Prem Chand Yadav, he added.
The official said online complaints were sent to the police and revenue departments in February 2023, but the officers did not take cognizance. He said Dubey even approached the officials concerned on Thana Diwas and Tehsil Diwas in July 2022 and February 2023, respectively, to raise the issue but no action was initiated.
