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Five cops fined 30-day salary for their ‘laxity’ in Sonbhadra dispute
Confirming the development, Superintendent of Police Ashish Srivastava said the action against the officers was taken based on the report of a probe conducted by additional director general (Varanasi zone), on the orders of chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
Almost six months after a land dispute in Sonbhadra’s Umbha village claimed the lives of 11 tribals, the Uttar Pradesh Police has found five policemen guilty of dereliction of duty and asked them to deposit their 30 days’ salary as fine.
The clash took place in Sapahi village on July 17 last year.
Confirming the development, Superintendent of Police Ashish Srivastava said the action against the officers was taken based on the report of a probe conducted by additional director general (Varanasi zone), on the orders of chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
The violence, that erupted after village headman Yagya Dutt, and his supporters opened fire on a rival group while trying to take possession of 90 bighas of land in Ghorawal area, also left nearly 21 people injured.
According to Srivastava, when village head Yagya Dutt tried to forcibly grab a disputed piece of land in 2017, police inspector Shiv Kumar Mishra and his predecessor Mool Chand Chauhan did not pay heed to complaints by Gond tribals and handled the matter with a prejudiced approach. Three constables — Kanhaiya Lal, Sudhakar Yadav and Pramod Kumar Singh — did not act as per the rule of law and followed directions of their senior officers, he added.
The SP said these policemen have been found ignoring the complaint of locals expressing apprehension of some untoward incident just before the incident took place on July 17.
A case was registered against 27 persons and 50 unidentified people in this connection at Ghorawal police station on July 17. All accused were arrested and sent to jail. The charge sheet had also been filed in the court, said a senior police officer.
Days after the clash, the Uttar Pradesh government suspended five officials, including the sub-divisional magistrate, all posted in Ghorawal.
