Patna, Aug 26 : One person was killed and another critically injured in a knife attack during the Mahaviri March procession in Bihar's Gopalganj district, an official said.

The incident occurred in Dharampur Parsa village, under the jurisdiction of Manjhagarh police station, around 11:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Abhay Ranjan, the Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) of Gopalganj, confirmed the incident. He stated that the police immediately arrested three individuals in connection with the case. The deceased was identified as Vinay Giri. Ranjan also added that another person Salman is critically injured in this attack.

'There was a Mahaviri March procession organised in the village and a large number of people assembled there. During the procession, two groups were involved in a clash which soon took an ugly turn and one person was stabbed brutally in the knife fight,' Ranjan said.

The victim, Vinay Giri, succumbed due to multiple injuries at the crime scene.

The villagers tried to intervene in the matter to calm down both sides. However, they failed as the knife fight occurred again and another person named Salman was stabbed multiple times. He was critically injured and admitted to the hospital.

'As soon as we learned about the incident, our team reached the crime scene and managed to arrest three accused individuals,' Ranjan stated.

'We have registered a First Information Report (FIR) under the relevant sections of the BNS at Manjhagarh police station, and efforts are ongoing to identify other persons involved in this violent clash. We have recovered the body and sent for the postmortem. Other accused will be arrested soon,' he added.

Security in the area has been enhanced and peace prevailed in the morning.

The Mahaviri March procession is scheduled to be held in the village during the Janmashtami on Monday evening as well, and the district police have deployed an adequate police force there to prevent any further incidents. The victims are natives of Madhopur village in the Siwan district.

/IANS