One man was killed and several injured when two adivasi groups allegedly clashed with guns, swords, spears and axes in the Ambadukpada village in Shirpur tehsil of Dhule district on Tuesday night.
The Dhule police has confirmed that one man was killed in the attack. The riot occurred over tillage of forest land.
Sources said that the deceased Kahraya Gulsing Pawra received
a three-acre plot from the forest department. His family was working in the fields the whole day. Later in the afternoon, ex-sarpanch Ranya Neha Pawra along with some others arrived at the scene and claimed that the land belonged to them and that Kahrya had no right to till it.
The quarrel turned into a riot and Kahraya was attacked. He collapsed and later died. After hearing the news, other villagers from Ambadukpada and Kodid villages arrived and began pelting stones in which several persons were injured.
The police registered murder cases against Ranya Meha Pawra, Reva Meha Pawra, Uttarsing Onkar Pawra, Saising Manji Pawra and Sattarsing Reva Pawra. Only Sattarsing has been arrested, while the others are absconding.
“We have arrested one man but the others are absconding and we are trying to nab them. The Madhya Pradesh border is one kilometre from the village and the accused may have run away there,” police inspector Sambhaji Patil told The Asian Age.