According to the government spokesman, nearly 9,687 bighas of land in Mirzapur, of which Sonebhadra was a part till 1989 when it became a separate district, had been usurped by Rajeshpati Tripathi and Laliteshpati Tripathi who had set up cooperative societies to acquire the land.
The land which belonged to the Gram Sabha should have been given to Dalits, tribal and other weaker sections of society. But the Tripathi family had formed 26 societies in Mirzapur and 12 in Sonebhadra to take possession of the land. Nearly 14.7 k bighas of land was usurped by them in Mirzapur and 5.7 k bighas of land in Sonebhadra.
Interestingly, most of the original documents related to the land have gone missing.
The Yogi Adityanath government is now preparing a major action against the Congress family.
A senior government official said on Friday that the Chief Minister had ordered steps to initiate the process of taking back the usurped land.
"The land belongs to weaker sections of society and will be used for their welfare. Schools, stadium, hospitals etc. will come up on the land. At present, the Congress leaders have built palatial farmhouses on the usurped land," the official said.
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was the first political leader to reach Sonebhadra after ten tribals were massacred over the land dispute on July 17 last year.
"Probably she would not have gone if she had known that her own party leaders were responsible for what happened," said the government spokesman.
( With inputs from IANS )