At least 21 houses belonging to the Scheduled Castes Ravidas and Manjhi were set on fire in Bihar’s Nawada district on Wednesday evening over a suspected land dispute.

The police said the incident took place at Krishna Nagar Mahadalit settlements under the Muffasil police station of Nawada at around 6.45 pm. Houses in 80 Mahadalit settlements by the roadside were gutted but no casualties were reported, Indian Express reported.

The Nawada police arrested a local resident, Nandu Paswan, and nine others. According to the police, Paswan had threatened the residents to vacate the land earlier as well.

“A call was received around 7.30 pm that some houses were set on fire in Manjhi Tola. Police immediately reached the spot along with fire engines. It took some time to douse the blaze. According to villagers, a group of people started setting the houses on fire around 7 pm,” said SP Abhinav Dhiman who also visited the area, PTI reported.

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“Preliminary investigation suggests that land dispute is the reason for the incident. A case has been registered and an investigation is underway,” he said.

Another police officer said shots were also fired in the air when the houses were being torched.

Dhiman said the situation was now under control and a large contingent of the police was deployed in the area to prevent any flare-up.

No one was injured in the incident.

(With inputs from PTI)