6 of a family shot dead in India's Madhya Pradesh

Six members of a family, including three women, were shot dead and three others were wounded today in Madhya Pradesh's Morena district in a gruesome fall-out of a long-standing land dispute.

The incident took place at around 10:00am at Lepa village, 50-60km from the district headquarters.

Three of the victims died on the spot and three others succumbed to bullet wounds while being rushed to a hospital, Inspector General of Police (Chambal Zone) S Saxena told PTI over the phone.

Police have identified eight persons who were allegedly involved in the murders and a case has been registered against them, he said.

Two people were arrested in this connected and were being interrogated.

Asked about the motive behind the killings, the official said that the deceased and the accused had an old enmity.

"The victims' relatives have been accused of murdering the family members of today's alleged killers," the official said.

According to police, some people attacked people belonging to the other side with sticks and weapons, after which the conflict flared up.

In 2013, two people from Dhir Singh’s family were murdered and Gajendra Singh’s family was accused of the crime.

“Ganjendra Singh’s family was gunned down on Friday. In 2013, over a property dispute, two members from Dhir Singh’s family were killed and one was injured. The case was being heard by a local court in Morena and we got to know that the families had reached a compromise,” said a senior police officer.

Police said that the family members of Gajendra Singh returned home after villagers told them that tempers had cooled and their safety was not at stake.

“The family members had spent 4-5 years in jail and came back on Friday. Around 9:30-10 am, the firing began,” the officer said.