LARKANA, April 22: The Mahota police arrested 26 people from two rival groups of the Khuhro clan after they exchanged fire to settle a land dispute in the kutcha area on Monday.

Tension gripped the area as the supporters of Shah Muhammad Pasha Khuhro and Barrister Khalid Mehmood Khuhro, sons of former Sindh chief minister Ayub Khuhro, exchanged fire to occupy 50 acres of land near the Akil village.

According to a source, the shootout began when armed men of Khalid Khuhro tried to take away produce from the land.

Before things could get any worse, a heavy contingent of the police reached the field and arrested 26 people from both the groups. Six guns, a rifle, a repeater and a mobile phone were seized from their possession.

Among those arrested seven were the supporters of Khalid Mehmood Khuhro. They were named as Mushtaque Jatoi, Muhammad Amin, Sattar, Wahid Ali, Muhammad Ali, Kamal and Jamaluddain. The others were backing Pasha Khuhro. They included Abdul Sattar Gaad, Sadik Gaad, Mazhar, Aijaz Mirbahar, Munwar Kori, Oshaq Gaad, Ghulam Hussain Khuhro and Deedar Khuhro.