District Administration Cancels Armed License Of 11 People In Deoria Violence Case That Killed 6

The district administration has identified 11 people whose arms licence will be cancelled in connection with the October 2 violence at Fatehpur here over a land dispute that claimed six lives, an official said on Thursday. The action will be taken after a hearing at the District Magistrate's Office, Additional District Magistrate (Administration) Gaurav Srivastava said.

On October 2, former district panchayat member Premchand Yadav, 50, was attacked with sharp-edged weapons and killed by his rival Satyaprakash Dubey and his family when he went to his house. In retaliation, Yadav's supporters from Abhaipur attacked Dubey's house and brutally killed him and five of his family members, including children. Srivastava said that after the incident, "the arms licence of deceased Premchand Yadav was automatically cancelled".

"The administration has identified 11 people for cancellation of their arms licence. A hearing will be conducted at the District Magistrate's Office after which the step will be taken," he said. In the incident, Dubey's wife Kiran (52), daughters Saloni (18) and Nandani (10) and son Gandhi (15) were killed.

His eight-year-old son Anmol was injured in the attack and admitted to the ICU of the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur. His eldest son 17-year-old Devesh cremated his family members on the night of October 2.

On a complaint from Dubey's daughter Shobhita Dwivedi, a case was registered against 77 people under sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Five people, including Dubey, his wife and children were named, in a cross-FIR by Yadav's relative Anirudh.

The FIR was lodged under sections 302 (murder), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting with armed weapons), 149 (unlawful assembly), and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC, police said. Deoria District Magistrate Akhand Pratap Singh had earlier said that the reason for the violence was a long-standing land dispute between the two families of the village.