Sonbhadra clash: 5 cops held responsible for laxity, asked to deposit 30 days' salary as fine

Almost six months after 11 tribals were killed in a clash over a land dispute Sonbhadra, the Uttar Pradesh police has held five policemen responsible for laxity and asked them to deposit their 30 days' salary as fine. The clash took place in Sapahi village on July 17 last year. Twenty-one people were also injured in the violence that erupted after the 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 here.

Five policemen have been served notice to deposit their 30 days' salary as fine, Sonbhadra Superintendent of Police (SP) Ashish Srivastava said on Thursday. 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, he said. They handled the matter with a prejudiced approach, he added.

Srivastava said 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. 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, the SP added. Days after the clash, the Uttar Pradesh government suspended five officials, including the sub-divisional magistrate, all posted in Ghorawal. Nearly 30 people were arrested in connection with the violence.