Priyanka meets Sonbhadra victims’ families

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra today met the family members of the victims of a violent clash over a land dispute in an Uttar Pradesh village and empathised with them.

Twelve members of the affected families met Priyanka, who was not allowed to go Ubbha village in Sonbhadra district where the clash had taken place, at a guest house in Chunar town in Mirzapur district, senior Congress leader Ajay Rai said.

TV channels' footage showed Priyanka consoling the family members while sharing their grief. She also wiped tears of the family members and offered them water.

After meeting the families of the clash victims following a night of detention and intense drama at the guest house, Priyanka decided to go back to Delhi but said she would return, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

"My objective has been served as I have met them (victims of Sonbhadra firing). I am still under detention, let's see what the administration says," Priyanka told reporters.

The clash over a land dispute at Ubbha left 10 people dead last Wednesday.

Priyanka Gandhi was stopped from going to Sonbhadra and detained on Friday. Following the detention, she spent the night at the guest house, turning down all requests of the local authorities to go back without meeting the families of the victims.

In a late-night tweet, she said she is ready to go to jail if she was not allowed to meet the victims.

A second round of talks held between the Congress leaders and local administration late on Friday night failed and Priyanka chose to stay put at the guest house along with her supporters. 

Earlier in a series of tweets, Priyanka said Uttar Pradesh government sent Additional Director General of Police in Varanasi Brij Bhushan, Commissioner of Varanasi Deepak Agarwal and DIG to tell her to return without meeting the victims.

"I have clearly stated that I have come here not to violate any law but to meet the victims," she said. In another tweet, she said her advocates have told her that her detention is totally illegal.

"They (officials) are sitting with me for around one hour. They did not tell me the ground of detention nor showed any papers," she said.

Meanwhile, a relative of the main accused in the Sonbhadra clash was arrested from Varanasi, a senior police official said today.

Ten people were gunned down and 28 others injured in the clash between supporters of Ubbha village headman Yagya Dutt and Gond tribals over a piece of land.

Komal, a station superintendent in Bhadohi and a relative of Dutt, was arrested yesterday evening from Varanasi, Superintendent of Police (SP) Salman Taj Patil said.

"Komal was present at the spot of the incident and also fired (on the tribals)," he said quoting members of the affected families.

On Friday, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had said 29 people, including Dutt, have been arrested and a sub-divisional magistrate and four policemen were suspended in connection with the incident.