Nine persons, including three women, were gunned down on Wednesday by a village head and his associates in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh over a land dispute, police said. Four persons were also injured in the incident that took place in Murtiya village under the Ghorawal police station, the police said. DGP O.P Singh said five persons have been arrested and a door to door search was launched to nab the others. Ramasastry said the events unfolded after headman Yagya Dutt Bhurtia, reached the village with his associates to take possession of 90 bighas of land he had purchased two years ago. SP Sonbhadra Salmantaj Jafertaj Patil said the pradhan who came to the village with men on tractors used the machines to plough the land claimed by him, to which the other villagers protested.

Source: The Hindu July 17, 2019 12:55 UTC