As many as 13 members of a family, including five women and four children, were killed by rivals in Mahbubnagar district of Andhra Pradesh late on Friday night.
A district police official said that while two of the victims were hacked to death, the others were locked up in a room and burnt to death by the assailants who wreaked vengeance due to previous enmity.
The gory incident occurred at Polkampally village in Daulatabad mandal. The area comes under Makthal police station limits in Narayanpet police sub-division in this backward district.
The police official said, "The killings were a sequel to a murder that took place in 2004. Ashok, a prime accused in the murder of Kistappa, came out on bail recently. His opponents came to know of it and planned the gruesome killings."
"The relatives and supporters of late Kistappa attacked the family members and supporters of Ashok. They burnt two houses and three vehicles resulting in the death of 13 persons belonging to Ashok's family," the police official pointed out.
Ashok, who had killed Kistappa in 2004, came to attend a marriage in the village on Friday night. The relatives and supporters of Kistappa took their revenge.
The incident occurred between 8 and 9 pm. Whether Ashok was among the victims is yet to be ascertained, the police official said.