1955 revenue records of the land disputed in Uttar Pradesh's Sonbhadra is missing (File Image)
Investigations into the clash, which left 10 people dead in a Sonbhadra village last week, might face a major hurdle as the 1955 revenue records of the land disputed by the rival parties have been missing.
On Saturday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had suggested the genesis of the land dispute was laid in 1955, during the Congress rule, and said the committee set up to investigate the shooting incident in Gharowal area of Sonbhadra district will look into this.
Opposition parties, including the Congress, have demanded a CBI probe into the incident.
"The records of the land belong to the time when Sonbhadra was a part of Mirzapur district, till 1989. Some records are destroyed after a specified period of time. The same is the case here," Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Yogendra Bahadur Singh told PTI.
Some records, which are taken as time barred, are destroyed in a routine manner as every paper cannot be stored, the ADM said.
The committee constituted by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister under the additional chief secretary (revenue) has to give its report within 10 days.
At a press conference after visiting the village, Mr. Adityanath had sought to pin the blame on the Congress rule from 1955 to 1989. His government has claimed that the 90-bigha plot was illegally transferred to Adarsh Co-operative Society, which held the land till 1989.
It claimed that the ownership of the land was changed to individual that year. Later, the individual reportedly sold the land to gram pradhan Yagya Dutt, the main accused in the firing incident on July 17.
Ten Gond tribals were gunned down while resisting a violent attempt by the village head and his men to take control of the land.
On Tuesday, Additional District Magistrate said Yagya Dutt also had held the possession of another land in front of his house illegally and the district administration has got it freed.
District Magistrate Ankit Kumar Agarwal has ordered an inquiry into all development-related work undertaken in the area.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)