Sonbhadra clash:Cong gives compensation to victims' kin

A Congress delegation on Saturday distributed compensation cheques to the families of those killed and injured in a clash over a land dispute in Umbha village here as promised by party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

After meeting some villagers at a guesthouse in Mirzapur last week, Priyanka Gandhi had said her party will pay Rs 10 lakh each to the families of those killed in the violence and also provide monetary help to the injured.

The villagers had travelled to the guesthouse after the Congress leader was detained when she insisted on going to Sonbhadra to meet the victims.

"After the Sonbhadra massacre, I tried to ensure that the voice of the people of Umbha is heard. They realize that they are not alone. People are with them," Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi on Saturday.

"I also called on them (families of those killed in Umbha village) and tried to share their grief. I announced monetary assistance. Congress leaders visited the village today and gave cheques of financial assistance to the families of the victims," she wrote on the microblogging site.

All India Congress Committee secretary Bajirao Khade distributed cheques of Rs 10 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased here.

The party delegation also presented cheques of Rs 1 lakh each to the families of those seriously injured in the violence.

Khade said it is the duty of everyone to stand with those who had faced the ordeal.

"Priyanka Gandhi has sent us to fulfil the promise that she had made," he said, adding the Congress has always stood with the poor, deprived and weaker sections for their betterment and bright future.

Ten people, all Gond tribals, were shot dead earlier this month when a village headman, Yagya Dutt, and his supporters allegedly opened fire in an attempt to take possession of a piece of land in Umbha in Sonbhadra district's Ghorawal area.

Twenty-eight others were injured, including nine supporters of the village head.