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.
ADG Law and Order P.V. 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.
However, the locals, who had not allowed him to take over the farmland for two years, protested, following which he and his men opened fired at them, police said.
It is not yet clear if bullets were also fired from the other side and what kind of weapons were used in the firing.
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.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed Commissioner, Mirzapur, and ADG Zone Varanasi to jointly investigate the incident and fix responsibility for the lapses within 24 hours.
Sonbhadra is located more than 80 km south of Varanasi and is one of the most underdeveloped and inaccessible districts in the State.
