40 injured as groups clash over land in Maddur village

MANDYA: More than 40 persons were injured in a violent group clash over a land dispute at Rajegowdanadoddi village in Maddur taluk on Sunday.
According to police, Chikkonu, Puttalaksmamma, Bhagyamma, Ravi, Sunil Varalaksmi and five others were grievously injured and are undergoing treatment at the Mandya Medical College Hospital.
Police said two groups in the village had been at loggerheads over a piece of land which reportedly belonged to Sri Narayanaswamy Temple earlier.Members of both groups had been claiming ownership over the land for the past couple of years. The dispute is currently in court for adjudication.
On Sunday, Chikkonnu, Ravi and other villagers were grazing their cattle on the disputed land. They were allegedly attacked by over 30 persons from the other group who landed there in two autorickshaws and a tractor. The attackers, including main accused Satish Babu, his brothers Rohit and Pradeep and his friends, flung stones and bottles on their rivals and badly injured them. The accused fled from the village after the attack.
The injured were shifted in ambulances to the taluk hospital and police were deployed in the village at the hospital.
Angry villagers attacked one of the accused, Pradeep, at the hospital when he came there along with some of the other co-accused to get admitted to the hospital alleging that they had been attacked. Police personnel intervened and saved Pradeep from the mob.
Mandya MP C S Puttaraju, MLA D C Tammanna went to the village and tried to broker peace between the groups. They assured them they would try to amicably resolve the dispute as per law and requested them to maintain peace in the village.
"We registered a case and detained a few persons. We launched a manhunt to nab other accused who fled the village. Police were deployed in the village to thwart any further clashes," a senior officer said.