Two muslim men killed over suspicion of cow smuggling in India

Hindustan Times :

Two muslim men were allegedly beaten to death and another critically injured by a mob over suspicion of cow smuggling in India, near the Raipur district in Chhattisgarh, police said on Friday.
The incident took place at around 2:20 am on Thursday on the Mahanadi River bridge under the Arang police station area.
The two deceased were identified as Chand Miyan and Guddu Khan. The injured, identified as Saddam, is undergoing treatment at the hospital. All three were from Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, said police.
Police said the matter is under investigation as it is yet to be confirmed if they jumped from the bridge or were beaten. “The deceased had taken the buffaloes from a village in Mahasamund and were carrying them to the market in Odisha,” said Arang police station in-charge Shailendra Singh Shyam.
The officer said the trio were on their way when they suspected they were being followed, so they turned their vehicle towards Raipur.
“We suspect that the perpetrators had planned this because they threw sharp nails which caused puncture in the vehicle carrying the bovines. The tyres burst over the bridge, and the vehicle was forced to stop and both parties got into a fight”, Shyam added.
“It is still unclear if the deceased jumped into the river out of fear or whether they were pushed or thrown. We are investigating these aspects,” the officer said.
“The police reached the spot soon after receiving information and recovered the two bodies. One injured was shifted to a hospital in Raipur,” said the officer.
When asked if there had been any development in identifying the perpetrators, the officer said they got some leads and are looking into it.
“We have identified four people, and an investigation is going on,” said Shyam.