Twenty-one-year-old Arun Khaire from Talanagar in Raigad district awoke with a start early Sunday morning to the screams and cries of his family, and watched in horror as a mob of 30-odd men wielding swords and rods stormed into his house.As they ransacked the place and brutally beat up his relatives including the women and children, Khaire and a couple of others who dared to resist, were assaulted with weapons. Khaire was slashed with a sword.The mob, comprising members of his own Kunbi community, had just taken their rivalry with the Agri members of the village to a new level. Khaire’s family had faced the brunt of the attack for supporting the Agris in this running feud fuelled by an explosive mix of politics and religion. And this time, the toll was heavy - three dead and several injured.Standing outside the general ward at Sion Hospital, Khaire shudders as he recalls how ‘‘they came in separate groups and attacked us from different directions. Some of us were in the fields when they were surrounded. They had planned it very well.’’Three men, Umaji Omale (60), his brother Shivaram Omale (47) and Shahadeo Navshe, were killed while five were seriously injured in the clash, police sources said. ‘‘Two of the injured are in a very critical condition,’’ said Dr Anil Singhal at Sion Hospital.
