Two men end up killing each other in a clash during fest

Raipur: Two villagers brutally assaulted each other to death following a heated quarrel while celebrating the harvest festival of ‘Navakhai' in Chhattisgarh 's Sukma district on Tuesday.

Police said the two men got into an argument over a personal issue that is not fully known yet, but the dispute quickly escalated into a violent clash , with both men attacking each other with sticks and wooden rods. As the fight intensified, villagers tried to intervene, but by the time they managed to separate the two, both men had collapsed unconscious.

They were rushed to a nearby health centre, where doctors declared them dead on arrival. The deceased were identified as Podium Deva (45) and Podium Podiya (35). Sukma SP Kiran Chavan told reporters that the preliminary findings suggest the murders stemmed from a personal dispute.

"It appears to be a case of mutual assault arising from a personal quarrel. However, the involvement of other individuals cannot be ruled out. We are investigating all angles," SP Chavan said.

Police said that the wife of one of the deceased is under probe for her role in the incident, while it appears that villagers haven't yet shared all the details and there's much more to the incident. Police teams have sealed off the area and deployed additional personnel to prevent any further tension in the village.

The bodies were sent for post-mortem, and a forensic team was called in to collect evidence from the scene. Investigators suspect that alcohol consumption during the festivities may have triggered the altercation involving more people.