Tension mounted in Chandanbhati village under Sadar Police limits in Bolangir district after supporters of the local Sarpanch and Naib Sarpanch clashed over taking out victory procession on Friday.
As per reports, Sankirtan, who has won the election to the post of Naib Sarpanch, took out a procession in the village along with his supporters on Friday evening. However, the supporters of Sarpanch Pankijini Meher allegedly stopped the procession and scuffled with them.
The scuffle between the two groups snowballed into a fight leaving four from the Sarpanch group injured. Soon, a Police team from the Sadar Police station reached the spot, but only to face the ire of the mob.
The Police van was also subjected to stone pelting which left three Police personnel injured too. All the injured were rushed to the Bhima Bhoi Medical in Bolangir for treatment.
So far, no one has been detained or arrested in connection with the incident. However, Police have called for reinforcement and deployed a number of security personnel looking at the tension which still prevails in the area.
It is pertinent to mention here that Naib Sarpanch Sankirtan is the husband of Sita Meher, who had lost to Pankajini in the last Sarpanch election. And, since then, there has been a reported rivalry between the two factions in the Chandanbhati Gram Panchayat.