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MP: Six including 2 minors killed in clash; villagers lynch one of accused
One accused was arrested after a police team fired at him which hit one of his legs when he allegedly attacked the police team which was trying to arrest him. The other accused was lynched by enraged villagers while they were hiding in a house after committing the crime.
As many as six persons including two minors from a family were killed and six were injured by two brothers on Wednesday in a village in Mandala district of Madhya Pradesh.
One accused was arrested after a police team fired at him which hit one of his legs when he allegedly attacked the police team which was trying to arrest him. The other accused was lynched by enraged villagers while they were hiding in a house after committing the crime.
As per the preliminary investigation by police, a dispute over ancestral land was said to be the reason behind the attack. An investigation in the case was going on.
The incident took place at Maneri village, 63 kilometres away Mandla district headquarters.
The accused Harish Soni, 36, and Santosh Soni, 34, both are residents of Maneri village. The accused first attacked their cousins Rajendra Soni, who is a BJP worker, and Vinod Soni’s families mercilessly with swords and later attacked other relatives and villagers.
The accused, who was in an intoxicated state, threw chilli powder in the eyes of the victims before attacking them with swords, said V Rao, inspector general of police (IGP), Balaghat.
Police arrested Harish Soni while Santosh Soni was beaten to death by villagers, Rao also said.
The deceased include Rajendra Soni, 47, his daughter Priyanka Soni, 25, his brother Vinod Soni, 45; Vinod Soni’s five-year-old son Om and his three-year-old daughter Shreyansh Soni and also their relative Dinesh Soni, 49.
The injured include Rajendra’s son Nitin Soni, Vinod’s wife Rinki Soni and villagers Sunil Tiwari, Shanu Tiwari, Jhanki Lal Chakraborty and Dukhiya.
All the injured have been referred to Jabalpur medical college. Condition of two of the injured was stated to be serious, said police.
Rao said, “Harish and Santosh barged into the house of Rajendra Soni in Maneri village at around 12.30 PM and attacked him with a sword after throwing chilli powder in his eyes. Rajendra’s daughter Priyanka and son Nitin tried to save their father but Harish hit them with the sword. A relative Dinesh Soni, villager Sunil and Shanu Tiwari tried to stop them but they hit them too and later entered the house of Rajendra’s brother Vinod, which is located in the neighbourhood, and attacked Vinod, his wife Rinki and two sons, Om and Shreyansh.”
“Later, villagers gathered in large number and overpowered them. The villagers caught Santosh while Harish locked himself in a house of one of the villagers, Jhanki Lal Chakraborty by attacking him and his wife. Police personnel of Bijadandi police station in Mandala district arrested him from Jhanki Lal’s home after shooting at him at his legs as he attacked them,” said the police officer.
