Mauganj/Rewa, March 5 (IANS) The newly formed Mauganj district in Madhya Pradesh, on Thursday, witnessed yet another “bloody” Holi as an old dispute between two families over ‘love affairs’ escalated into violent clash, resulting in the death of a person and nearly a dozen injured.
The incident occurred in Dhawa Gautaman area under Hanumana police station around 3 p.m. when the Holi celebration on Wednesday was underway and people in the village were exchanging greetings with colours and joy.
The violence occurred after a group of members of the Saket family, who were heavily drunk, abused and beat up a youth identified as Puran Lal Patel, who was accused of having “love-affair” with a girl from the Saket community from the same village.
Hearing the commotion, Puran’s father, mother and other siblings also rushed to intervene and both sides attacked each other with sticks, pelted stones and whatever they found during the fight which ended after the people from nearby villages intervened and the Hanumana police was alerted.
During the fight, Puran’s father Raghuveer Patel and his brother Sandeep Patel were seriously injured and they were rushed to the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital, however, Raghuveer succumbed to his injuries midway.
Nearly a dozen people, including women were injured in the fight and they are being treated at the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital in Rewa.
“Five to six people are injured from the Patel family and at least three to four persons from the Saket family also got injured,” Sagar Kumar, a local resident of Mauganj, told IANS.
The matter was highlighted on Thursday after the post-mortem of the body (Raghuveer Patel) was conducted and taken to the village for the last rites.
A large number of people from the Patel community, including relatives and family members of the deceased, gathered at the police station and demanded harsh punishment against the accused persons.
Mauganj State Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP), Sachi Pathak, told IANS that the situation was under control after the police and administrative officials conducted a meeting with the representatives from the both sides, however, heavy security has been deployed to avoid any further escalation.
This entire incident is said to be nearly two years old.
Raghuveer Patel’s son, Puran Lal Patel, was acquitted in the same case. To avenge this, the Saket family planned an attack on Holi.
It was the second consecutive Holi when Mauganj’s Gadara-Dhaba area witnessed bloodshed due to an old dispute between the people from two different castes.
During last year’s Holi, a deadly clash had occurred in Gadara area where the people belonging to Kol (tribal community) had killed a youth from the Brahmin caste.
When the police tried to control the situation, the Kol community had kidnapped a senior woman police officer and had killed one Sub-Inspector.
Ironically, this incident occurred despite the Mauganj district police, a day before Holi, said that learning from last year’s incident in Gadara area, 27 police teams have been deployed this year, and sensitive areas are being continuously patrolled.
What is more interesting is that the local MLA from Mauganj Assembly constituency, Pradeep Patel, recently was in news for being reportedly missing and facing alleged ‘life-threat’.
Mauganj along with two other tehsils — Deotalab and Naigarhi was separated from Rewa district ahead of the 2023 Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections.
The newly formed Mauganj district borders Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh.
–IANS
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