NEW DELHI, 23 August (BelTA - Xinhua) - Over 450 people were injured, some of them critically, during a traditional stone pelting festival in central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday, local media reports said.
The festival is locally called Gotmar and is an annual ritual.
Reports said police lobbed tear gas shells to chase the people who turned unruly during the festival and even pelted stones on police vehicle and ambulance.
The incident took place at Chhindwara district, around 263 km southwest of Bhopal, the capital city of Madhya Pradesh.
Locals said during the festival, people of Sawargaon and Pandhurna areas of the district gathered on either side of Jaam river and threw stones at each other. The people raced to snatch a flag hoisted atop a tree put up in the middle of the river, an essential part of the festival.
"In the melee, over 450 people were injured in the stone pelting," local media quoted a senior police official as saying.
