Berhampur, Aug. 12: Twelve residents of two villages in Golanthara, 7km from here, were injured in a clash over grazing of buffaloes on paddy fields on Thursday.

Four persons — Harihar Mallick, Kartik Mallick, Basant Behera of Medinipur village and Shankar Gouda of Singabadi village — have been admitted to M.K.C.G. Medical College and Hospital here. Harihar and Kartik were reported to be in critical state. Tension continued to prevail in the area as the villagers feared further retaliatory clashes.

It was alleged that buffaloes belonging to Singabadi villagers were grazing on paddy fields in Medinipur. This angered Medinipur villagers, who attacked and injured three persons from Singabadi. In retaliation, nearly 100 Singabadi villagers, including women, raided Medinipur with sharp weapons and lathis. In the clash that ensued, nine persons were injured.

To protest against the act, villagers blocked the Chikiti-Berhampur Road for nearly six hours at Tamana.

“We demand the immediate arrest of 12 persons of Singabadi village. We also want the administration to bear the medical expenses of the injured. Four days ago, we had informed the police about the incident. Had the police taken proper action, today’s incident could have been avoided,” said a Medinipur villager.

The villagers withdrew the road blockade only after a team of officials led by Berhampur additional sub-collector Sangram Panda spoke to them and promised action. “We will look into the incident and take action,” said Panda.