Twenty-one thatched homes belonging to members of the Ravidas and Manjhi Scheduled Castes were torched in Bihar’s Nawada district on Wednesday in an alleged land grab attempt, reported The Indian Express.

The police have arrested 15 persons in connection with the arson, reported PTI. One of the persons arrested, who is also a member of the Scheduled Caste community, had allegedly threatened the residents to vacate the land.

The arson occurred in the Krishna Nagar Mahadalit settlement in the jurisdiction of the Muffasil Police Station at around 6.45 pm.

Nawada District Magistrate Ashutosh Kumar Verma told PTI that a Special Investigation Team had been formed to investigate the matter.

According to The Indian Express, the fire spread to around 80 other Dalit homes but no casualties were reported.

Firefighters were able to bring the blaze under control by 11 pm.

The district administration was reportedly arranging shelter for those whose homes were destroyed.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi described the incident as a “horrifying picture of injustice against the Bahujans” in the state and said that the “silence of the prime minister is a seal of approval on this big conspiracy”.

In a social media post, the Opposition leader said: “Such anarchist elements find shelter under the leadership of BJP and its NDA allies – they intimidate and suppress the Bahujans of India so that they cannot even demand their social and constitutional rights”.

Gandhi demanded immediate and strict action against the culprits, and “complete justice” and rehabilitation for the victim families.

Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav criticised Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for not commenting about the incident. “Neither does he talk to the media, nor the public,” Yadav said.

The former deputy chief minister also demanded that the culprits be arrested.

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary said that those responsible for the fire “will not be spared”. The Bharatiya Janata Party leader said that 15 of the 28 persons accused in the matter have been arrested, and efforts were on to apprehend the remaining suspects within the 24 hours.

The settlement is home to about 400 persons, almost all of whom work as daily wage earners, according to The Indian Express. The settlement is estimated to be between 70 and 80 years old.

The term ‘Mahadalit’ was coined by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s government in 2007 as an umbrella term for 20 Scheduled Castes that constitute the poorest group of Dalits in Bihar. It is not a constitutional term.

The late Ram Vilas Paswan, a former Union minister and chief of the Lok Janshakti Party, had been opposed to the grouping and kept the Paswans out of the Mahadalit category.

After the arson, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati called on the state government to take “strict legal action against the culprits and also provide full financial help for the rehabilitation of the victims”.