Sonbhadra massacre is institutional killing: Cong spokesperson Surjewala

The massacre of Adivasis in Sonbhadra is an act of institutional killing, said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala here on Saturday, while accusing Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh's BJP government of patronising the perpetrators of the heinous crime.

"Humanity has been murdered in Uttar Pradesh. Sonbhadra massacre is against farmers and poor. The Adityanath government is patronising the criminals. These murders should be considered as institutional killings," said Surjewala at a press conference here.

He alleged the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh was murdering democracy by detaining Congress' east UP general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who was on way to Sonbhadra to meet the kin of the firing victims on Friday.

"Instead of ensuring justice to the families of victims, the BJP government has turned Ubbha village into a cantonment and is treating villagers like criminals. The government is standing with the criminals, and not with the families of the victims," he alleged.

Surjewala also claimed that the state government was working in collusion with the criminals.

"The Yogi government has registered a case against Adivasis. They complained to the District Magistrate but their complaint was rejected on the BJP's instruction," he said.

Meanwhile, Priyanka met the families of the firing victims at Chunar town of Mirzapur where she spent the night after the police did not let her visit the village.

Delegations of the Congress and the Trinamool Congress, on way to meet the kin of the victims, were stopped at Varanasi airport. The Congress leaders were later allowed to visit Chunar instead of Sonbhadra, while TMC delegation led by Derek O'Brien was sent to the Banaras Hindu University (BHU).

Ten people including women were killed after the village headman and his aides opened fire at them in Ubbha village of Ghorawal Sonbhadra on July 17.