Bhago, banduk nikal lihin hai: Sonbhadra tribals in video

VARANASI: Two hair-raising videos of the Sonbhadra massacre that left 10 tribals dead and 28 injured on July 17 surfaced on Monday, showing helpless Gond tribals running for cover while a group led by the village head, Yagya Dutt Gujjar, attacking them with sticks. Suddenly, there’s a stampede as bullets fly, leaving behind a heap of bodies.While the first video shows tribals putting up a stiff resistance to henchmen of village head Yagya Dutt, the second video shows a trail of blood and gore with villagers mourning the dead. Both videos were shot before police arrived and could provide crucial evidence to investigating teams.In the chilling video shot from 50m off the conflict zone, villagers both men and women can be seen putting up fight against the assault by armed henchman of Yagya Dutt. Suddenly, cries of maro maro (thrash them) is heard.Suddenly, the boy shooting the video is heard screaming — “Aa re bhiaya banduk nikal lihin hai sab” (Brother they have taken out guns). Distant voices of gun-wielding men can be heard giving orders to chase and fire at the tribals — Maaro banduk se, fire karo (kill them, start firing from the guns).Children are seen scampering for cover and shouting ‘Aare dada, bhagayin’ (Oh my god run from here), and the one shooting the video also starts running. Then sound of gunfire rents the air, but villagers in the vanguard remain unaware and continue to offer resistance. Soon, there’s a stampede and bodies begin to fall with every bullet. As bodies pile up, villagers can be heard screaming — Bhagh re bhag (run, run).At the same time, a woman comes running and panting asks one of the boys, Aae bhaiya phone lagawa jaldi (please call police) and the boys says, lagawa hai (yes I am dialing). The 1.58-minute second video shows villagers mourning and wailing over bodies of their loved ones.Speaking to TOI, ADG Varanasi Zone, Brij Bhushan, said, “Not just these two videos, any picture, document or statement is crucial piece of evidence in the ongoing investigation”.