The other members of their gang fled, the police said. (Representational)
Two criminals were beaten to death by villagers after they fired in the air to scare local residents holding a panchayat to resolve a matter involving a young man and a woman near Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh on Monday, a police official said.
A dispute arose between two families in Dharampura village of Gwalior district on the issue involving the young man and the woman following which the former was manhandled, he said.
In order to resolve the matter, a village panchayat was organised at Dharampura where a history-sheeter, Lakhan Gadaria, along with his gang reached to threaten the local residents and also started firing in the air, additional superintendent of police (ASP) Rural Jairaj Kuber said.
Enraged over their act, the villagers attacked them with sharp-edged weapons and stones following which Gadaria and his associate Rajput Baghel died on the spot, he said.
The other members of their gang fled, he said.
On getting information about the incident, cops reached the spot and sent the bodies for an autopsy, Kuber said.
Police were identifying those involved in attacking the criminals and further probe was underway, he added.