Patna, April 15: A group of criminals set afire 19 houses of people belonging to the Scheduled Castes at Harichandra village under Bishunpur police station in Darbhanga district late Thursday night. There was no report of any casualty.

Police said some residents of Panchobh village attacked the villagers at around 9pm and assaulted both male and female members of the community and then torched their houses. The properties of 74 people was damaged in the incident.

Darbhanga senior superintendent of police (SSP) Vikas Vaibhav said tension was brewing among the residents of the two neighbouring villages after the news of an affair between a girl and a boy belonging to two different castes, spread.

The couple got married on Wednesday on the intervention of panchayat. However, on Thursday evening, one Rajiv Choudhary, a resident of Panchobh village, was allegedly misbehaved by residents of Harichandra, when he had gone for campaigning for his mother, who is contesting the panchayat elections.