A case was registered and an investigation is underway, the police said. (Representational)
Three people were allegedly beaten to death in the Khowai district of Tripura on suspicion of cattle theft in the early hours of Sunday, the police said. Villagers of Namanjoypara spotted a mini-truck heading towards Agartala, carrying five cattle, around 4.30 am, senior police official Kiran Kumar said.
They chased it and managed to stop the vehicle near North Maharanipur village, he said.
The villagers started thrashing the three people on the mini-truck with "lethal weapons", and two of them were beaten to death, while the other managed to flee, he said.
The mob got hold of the other person at Mungiakami, a tribal hamlet near North Maharanipur, and he was beaten to death there, the officer added.
The police reached the two locations immediately and took them first to a nearby hospital and then to the Agartala Government Medical College where the attending doctors declared that they were brought dead, Mr Kumar said.
A case was registered and an investigation is underway, he said.
No arrests were made yet, police said. Those killed were identified as Jayed Hossain (30), Billal Miah (28) and Saiful Islam (18), all residents of Sonamura subdivision in the Sepahijala district, they said.