Woman killed over land dispute in C'garh village, 14 held

A 45-year-old woman was killed while her husband and son were injured when they were attacked by a group of people allegedly over a land dispute in their village in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh district, police said today.
Police have arrested 14 people, most of them belonging to one family, in connection with the incident that occurred in Chhote Khaira village under Sarangarh police station limits yesterday, Station House Officer (SHO) Gopal Dhruv said.
The incident occurred after a scuffle broke out between two groups after the victim woman's family took objection to some work being carried out in a field adjacent to their farm land, he said.

The woman, identified as Kevra Bai, her husband Ramlal Sahu (52) and their son Yaadram Sahu (25) were attacked with sticks and sharp-edged weapons, the officer said, adding that Kevra Bai died on the spot.
On getting information about the incident, police rushed to the spot and shifted her husband and son to hospital.
Police have booked 28 people, including Tularam Sahu (25), his father Manijar (48) and cousin brothers Harikrishna Sahu, Vishnu Sahu and Vinod Sahu under sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 302 (punishment for murder) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the IPC, Dhruv said.

He said 14 out of the 28 accused have been arrested and hunt is on to trace others.

According to preliminary investigation, the victim's family had been facing a social boycott since they refused to pay the fine slapped on them by their community panchayat over a land dispute in the village, the officer said.
In August last year, the Sahus had raised the issue of the social boycott at the district collector's 'jandarshan' (public grievances redressal programme), he said.
The accused were produced before a local court today which remanded them in judicial custody for 14 days, the SHO added.