Indore: Nearly 65 persons were injured as people of two villages hurled firecrackers at one another during traditional ‘Hingot war’ that takes place on a ground near Gautampura village, about 60 kilometer from Indore.
The requests by district administration and local police to people of Gautampura and Runji villages to not hold the Hingot war this year also went in vain as they continued with their tradition.
“At least 63 persons were injured in the Hingot war this year. One of them sustained eye injury and was admitted to MY Hospital in Indore. The rest were discharged after primary treatment,” said block medical officer Virendra Rajgeer.
The Hingot war takes place on Dhok Padwa, a day after Diwali, when people of Gautampura and Runji villages hurl firecrackers at one another. Before the battle, they seek blessings of the local deity.
The two teams then assemble on either side of the ground where they are welcomed like warriors on battlefield and then they attack their rivals with ‘Hingots’ (a hollow fruit stuffed with gunpowder). ‘Warriors’ from each side fend off these flaming missiles with the help of shields, even as hundreds watch this annual event with blazing Hingots catching its target unawares.
Besides the ‘soldiers’ (players), many a time spectators are also injured as they do not have any protective shields.
The police have refrained from filing any case since it is a traditional sporting event against which a petition is pending in Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court.
Gautampura police station in-charge Hitendra Singh Rathore said that they had seized Hingots from people selling them on the footpath but the crackdown failed to stop Hingot war as people had hidden loads of firecrackers for the battle.
