Pyuthan/Dhading, December 25:

Altogether 24 persons were injured in two separate scuffles in Dhading and Pyuthan districts yesterday.

Twenty persons were hurt in a scuffle in a kul pooja of Basnet families organised at Marnthana village development committee -3 yesterday.

The scuffle occurred when the pooja was about to conclude and the Magars were preparing to perform the Maruni dance, a local Mahabir Ghartimagar said.

“The Basnet families had invited a dance troupe to perform Maruni dance during the

pooja and the scuffle occurred when the members of the Basnet families and the members of

the dance troupe clashed,” Mahabir said.

Seven persons of the dance troupe Mohan Ghartimagar, Kul Bahadur Ghartimagar, Deepak Ghartimagar, Krishna Bahadur Ghartimagar, Tara Ghartimagar, Hira Bahadur Ghartimagar

and Hira Ghartimagar were critically injured in the incident and are undergoing treatment

in Pyuthan hospital said, Mahabir said.

“The injured people were attacked with sharp weapons and they have wounds on their heads,” chief of Pyuthan hospital Dr Hari Bahadur KC said.

Drunkenness might have caused the scuffle, police post at Marnthana said.

Four persons were arrested in connection to the incident but were later released after they agreed to settle the dispute today, the police said.

In Dhading district, four were seriously injured in a scuffle that took place in Chitrekalika Temple of Chainpur village development committee-8 of Dhading on last night.

Police said it was investigating into the cause of the scuffle.

All those injured had come to attend a religious festival on the occasion of full moon day of Mangshir of lunar calendar and are undergoing treatment at the Dhading district hospital in Dhadingbesi, police said adding that the injured are Raj Kumar Shakya alias Bichari, 20, and Raj Kumar Shakya, 27, of Chainpur-1, Sriram Bhatta, 50, of Jaubari of Khari-1, and Bishnu Gurung, 35, of Khari-1.

More people might have got injured in the scuffle had it occurred in the daytime, said Prem Shakya, an eyewitness who came to hospital taking the injured victims.