Lucknow, June 19: A middle-aged man was lynched by a mob reportedly over rumours of cow slaughter in a village in Hapur of Uttar Pradesh while his accomplice, who was also beaten up, is fighting for life in a hospital. According to reports, the two men were beaten up after rumours of them trying to steal 3 cows and a calf for slaughtering spread in the area. However, the police have called it a case of fight over a motorcycle accident.

The brother of the victim informed the police who reached the spot and filed a case against 25 unknown persons. The victim has been identified as Kashim.

"There was a collision between 2 motorcycles in Hapur after which supporters of one of the motorbike riders beat 2 people who were on the other motorbike. Victims were admitted to the hospital,one died during treatment. Body sent for post-mortem. Investigation on," police said.

On the other hands, reports claim that some women in the village had gone to cut fodder in the fields when they saw two men carrying three cows and a calf. They told people in the village and soon after rumours spread that the men were taking the cows for slaughtering. Following this, hundreds of villagers gathered in the area and beat of the two men. While one of them died, the other is reported to be serious.

The incident comes days after two people were lynched by villagers after they were allegedly caught stealing buffaloes from a village under Deodand police station area of Jharkhand's Godda district. Four arrests have been made in the case and an FIR has also been registered.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 19, 2018 10:58 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).