CUTTACK: At least 10 persons including two women were injured and a thatched house was set afire during a group clash at Banahara village within Banki police limits on Sunday night.
Police arrested five persons in this connection on Monday. Meanwhile, the injured persons were taken to Dampada CHC for treatment. Sources said the clash erupted over a three-year dispute regarding calculation of sale proceeds of cashew and mango grown in the village.
Villagers cultivate mangoes and cashew and the income generated from them is used to conduct the Astaprahari Nama Yagna every year.
However, village heads Kanhu Pradhan and Krupasindhu Naik had not been making the sale proceeds public for the last almost three years owing to which clashes among villagers have occurred thrice in the past.
On Sunday night, an altercation ensued between two groups of villagers on the issue which soon escalated into a violent clash. Police said as the clash was underway, supporters of Kanhu and Krupasindhu handed the duo a match box instigating them to set afire a nearby house which belonged to one Bipin Pradhan. The house was completely gutted in the incident.
Basing on separate complaints from members of both groups, police registered two cases and arrested five persons, said Banki IIC Dillip Kumar Mardaraj Bhuyan. A police team also reached the village to take stock of the situation.