Yogi blames Cong for Sonbhadra carnage

Under attack from Opposition parties following the killing of ten tribal people over land dispute in Uttar Pradesh's Sonebhadra district, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday blamed the Congress for the incident.

Adityanath, who met the families of the victims at Umbhi village, also termed the incident as a "political conspiracy" and claimed that the attackers had "connections" with the Samajwadi Party (SP).

He said that the seeds of the conflict had been sown in 1955, when the then Congress government in the state had transferred the land to a Society.

"The land was again transferred to some individuals in 1989 and subsequently sold to the pradhan," he said.

The chief minister said that the victims had paid for the Congress' "sin".

Adityanath also attacked Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who had met a few families of the victims on Saturday, for shedding "crocodile tears".

He also announced to open a temporary police out-post in the village.

Earlier, the entire village was sealed hours before Adityanath's visit in an apparent attempt to thwart protest demonstrations by workers of the Opposition parties.

According to police sources, scores of SP and Congress workers and local leaders were taken into custody, when they tried to go to the village to protest against the chief minister.

The SP office at Churk in the district was also surrounded by police to prevent the workers from coming out, sources said.