Nine persons, including five children, were on Friday charred to death and three others injured when some houses were set ablaze by villagers agitated over the murder of a village head in Thuthibari area of Uttar Pradesh's Maharajganj district, police said.

Dina Nath Singh was shot dead by Ayodhya Dubey, Dasrath Dubey, Krishna Murari and Dablu over an old rivalry on Friday morning,

Superintendent of Police D K Shekar said.

Agitated over the incident, the villagers of Digahi torched houses of the accused, in which five children, two men and two women were burnt alive, he said.

Police and PAC tried to disperse the mob, Shekhar said, adding that heavy force has been deployed in the village.

Shekhar said that all the four accused have been detained and interrogated.