Over 30 injured in traditional `Hingot war' in Indore district

Indore, Oct 21 (PTI) More than 30 people were injured in the annual Hingot war, a tradition associated with Diwali, at Gautampura in the district on Tuesday evening.

`Warriors' from Gautampura and the neighbouring village of Runji lobbed firecrackers made from the Hingot fruit at each other as crowds of spectators cheered them on.

Block Medical Officer Dr Vandana Kesari told PTI that around 35 participants were injured. Two of them were sent to a hospital in Depalpur as they had sustained serious injuries.

One of them suffered a broken arm while the other suffered a nose injury, she said.

High nets and barricades had been erected around the `battlefield' to protect spectators from flying missiles, said Sub-Divisional Police Officer Sanghpriya Samrat.

Some 200 police and 100 administrative personnel were deployed at the venue along with fire engines and ambulances, the official said.

Hingot is a wild fruit the size of a gooseberry. The fruit is hollowed out, dried, and filled with gunpowder to turn it into a rocket-like firecracker.

The annual fight takes place between the `Turra' group of warriors from Gautampura and the `Kalangi' group from Runji.

The two groups launch burning Hingots at each other.

People get injured every year, and there have been instances of deaths due to burn injuries. But so far, the administration has desisted from banning the fight, given its traditional roots.

Locals say that the tradition goes back 200 years to the time when the Holkars ruled Indore.

It is believed that local guerrilla warriors used to fire Hingots filled with gunpowder at the invading Mughal armies. PTI HWP MAS KRK