New Delhi, Jul 17 (IANS): Criticising the Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government over the spate of murders in the state, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, here on Wednesday, termed the killing of 10 people in UP as "shocking".

"Under the BJP government the confidence of criminals has grown so much that murders are being committed in day light. In Sonbhadra, the killing of 9 people, including three women, belonging to the Gond community has shaken the conscience. The Chief Minister, his ministers and the administration are all sleeping. Is this how the state will become crime-free?" she said in a tweet in Hindi.

Her remarks came soon after the deaths in clashes over a land dispute at Murtiya village of the Sonbhadra district.

According to reports, the killings took place on Wednesday afternoon during a dispute over a piece of land between the Gujjars and the Gonds.

During the quarrel, both the groups opened fire and attacked each other with sickles. It continued for more than an hour. Six of the injured are reported to be in a critical condition.