Eight members of a family from the Pardhi tribe were charred to death when they were asleep in a hut in Nimgaon village, 70 km from Solapur on Monday morning.
The dead include four children and two women. Police said the incident could be a fall out of previous enmity between two groups from the same community.
Five people — one of them is a woman — have been arrested, said Solapur’s Superintendent of Police, Suresh Mekla.
The incident occurred in Madha taluka, the constituency of Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, at 1 am on Monday.
The hut, in which the victims were asleep, was set on fire.
It took more than four hours to bring the fire under control. The hut belonged to a farmer, Suresh Pawar, a relative of the victims.
Pawar lodged a complaint with the police alleging that a rival group was behind the incident.
Home Minister R.R. Patil, who visited the village after the incident, announced a compensation of Rs 1 lakh for the families of the deceased. “All the accused will be arrested soon,” Patil said.
{{/usCountry}}Home Minister R.R. Patil, who visited the village after the incident, announced a compensation of Rs 1 lakh for the families of the deceased. “All the accused will be arrested soon,” Patil said.
{{/usCountry}}He also emphasised the need for the rehabilitation of the Pardhi community in Madha. The Pardhi (hunters) tribe is mostly found in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.