The accused were arrested with great difficulty, they are not mentally sound: Police (Representational)
In a gruesome act, six members of a family were killed by two brothers in a clash at a village in Madhya Pradesh's Mandla district on Wednesday, the police said.
The incident occurred at Maneri village under Bijadandi Police Station area, about 100-kms from the district headquarters.
Mandla's senior police official Vikram Singh Kushwaha said, "It is confirmed that six persons have died so far. All the dead people are members of a family."
He said that initial investigation has revealed that the six were killed by Harish Soni and his younger brother Santosh Soni.
Mr Kushwaha said that the accused killed them using a sharp-edged weapon over a family dispute.
Those who died have been identified as Vinod Soni (45), his son Om Soni (10), Karia Soni (8), Vinod's elder brother Rajendra Soni (62) Priya Soni (25) and Dinesh Soni.
He said that the killers are related to the victims.
The accused brothers were arrested with great difficulty as it appears, they are not mentally sound and police had to open fire when they went to arrest them to control the situation, Mr Kushwaha said.
"We had to fire at them as they attacked the police team. Cops fired in self-defence following which one of them was caught immediately, while the other was apprehended later," Mr Kushwaha said.
"One of them suffered bullet injuries in his leg in the incident," the ASP said, adding that both the accused are admitted in a hospital.
Personnel from three police stations were deployed to nab them, he said.
The accused were armed with an axe, sword and chilli powder. They attacked the police team that had gone to arrest them.
Villagers told police that the brothers have a habit of chasing vehicles with axes in their hands if the driver blows the horn while passing by their house or even if someone talks on a mobile phone around them.
BJP's Mandla district's media in-charge Sudhir Kasar said that Rajendra Soni was an old BJP hand and close to union minister Faggan Singh Kulaste, who represents Mandla Lok Sabha seat in the state