UP land dispute takes deadly turn, shootout claims 9 lives

Sonbhadra/Lucknow: A village head and his supporters allegedly opened fire on a rival group in a land dispute in Sonbhadra, killing nine people, including three women, and leaving 19 injured on Wednesday, police said.

The land in the district's Ghorawal area earlier belonged to an IAS officer and he had sold it to village head Yagya Dutt, who wanted to take its possession, Uttar Pradesh DGP O P Singh said.

When Dutt reached the spot with his henchmen in 10 to 12 tractors, local villagers tried to stop them from taking over the land, police said.

Those accompanying him then showered a volley of bullets on the villagers, killing nine of them.

Police arrested Girijesh and Vimlesh, two nephews of the village head, and are trying to trace him as well.

A house-to-house search is underway to nab those involved in the shootout, police said.

"We have also alerted the Madhya Pradesh police and, if needed, action against the IAS officer will also be initiated," the DGP said.

Sonbhadra is the second largest district in Uttar Pradesh and is the only one in the country sharing its boundary with four other states - Madhya Pradesh, Chhattishgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar.

The land dispute had been festering for some time and police said they had initiated the process of attaching the property.