6 children drown, 40 injured in clashes in Odisha

Holi celebration in Odisha was today marred by drowning of at least six children in various places and injury of about 40 people in separate group clashes in different parts of the state.
While three children got drowned in Kendrapara district, one minor child each died the same way in Balasore district, Bhubaneswar, and Cuttack district, police said.
One child was still missing in the incident of Cuttack district.
All of them got drowned while bathing in water bodies after celebrating Holi, police said.
Group clashes were reported from at least eight places of the state in which at least 40 people were injured, police said.

Police suspected that most of the group clashes were linked to recently concluded panchayat elections.

While 12 people were injured in a clash at Lunipada village in Ganjam district, seven others sustained injuries and a toll gate was ransacked in another clash near Pipili in Puri district.
In another incident in Puri district, three persons were injured in Dandamukundapur village in a clash over sprinkling of colours.
Clashes were also reported from Barng in Cuttack district, Puruna Katak in Boudh district, Patkura and Amrutamani villages in Kendrapara district, police said.