On Wednesday, a fight took place between a group of tribals and a group of Muslim villagers at Dhulabari village of Bihar-Bengal border leading to tribals launching an attack with ‘arrows’ leaving many of the villagers injured.

According to the Dainik Jagran report, a group of Muslims had arrived at the tea estates near Dhulabari village to offer their ‘Namaz’ on the occasion of Eid. The tribals fearing that Muslims had come to occupy their lands attacked them with their traditional weapons of bow and arrow which hit a few people who had come there to offer Namaz.

On the day of Eid, few Muslim villagers were visiting Idgah lands near the village to offer prayers. As soon as they entered the contested lands, the tribals unleashed an attack on the villagers leaving more than 23 injured. During the fight, one of the people was also hit on his chest by an arrow. Reportedly, he was immediately then escorted to the nearest MGM hospital and his condition is serious.

However, according to Live Hindustan, it was actually Muslim villagers who had stormed to the tribal areas to stop them from worshipping. The report says that the Adivasis fearing an attack on them launched an arrow attack leaving many Muslim villagers injured.

The local police soon arrived at the spot and tried to control the situation by attacking the mob with lathis. Reportedly, the police officials also burnt the huts belonging to the tribals. Reacting to the police action, the tribals torched and damaged the police vehicles.

There has been a history of conflicts between the native Muslims and tribals which began as the latter arrived at these villages and illegally occupied the lands bordering the state of Bihar and West Bengal. The tribals and the local villagers have been continuously fighting each other over land issues. The tribal claim that they are deprived of both the lands to cultivate and also they are not included in any government welfare schemes.