A 28-year-old man was beaten to death at a village in Tinsukia district of Assam by a mob that suspected him as a cow thief, while his companion managed to escape on Saturday, police said.
The incident took place at Korjonga Borpathar village under Baghjan police station during the wee hours when the two were allegedly found inside the cowshed of a house, Tinsukia Superintendent of Police Debojit Deuri told PTI.
The police have formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by Additional SP (Headquarter), to probe the case and have already picked up 12 suspects from the village, he said.
The victim has been identified as Sarat Moran (28), who hails from No. 1 Kordoiguri village. The man who escaped has not been traced yet, Deuri said.
According to villagers, the owner of the house spotted the duo at his cowshed at around 1:30 am and raised an alarm. People then gathered at the spot and started beating them up.
The SP said that the police was informed of the incident at around 4:30 am. They took the man to Doomdooma Civil Hospital, where he was declared brought dead.
"When we handed over the body to the family after post-mortem examination, some people from his village tried to create a law and order issue. However, when they came to know that we took action and already picked up 12 people, the cremation happened peacefully," he added.
Deuri said that nobody has the right to take the law into his or her hands even if someone is a thief and the police will not spare anyone involved in the lynching case.