The Latehar police says robbery or personal enmity could be the motive.
Jharkhand police today said that one of the five people arrested for the killing of two cattle traders, in which bodies of both were found hanging from a tree in Latehar district, was a member of a village level cow protection committee.
Police said Mithilesh Prasad Sahu, arrested on Friday night, was a member of the committee at the same village where the incident took place.
"The accused have said their motive was robbery. They have denied that they were instigated but we are investigating all angles. I am not denying that one of the accused, Mithilesh Prasad Sahu, was a member of a cow protection committee," Latehar police chief Anoop Birtharay said.
Earlier in the day, the police had said that robbery was the motive for the killings. "These people are criminals. They have previously snatched animals from traders and threatened them. Police is investigating all angles, including if they belonged to any cow protection organisation. We will make this clear in the days to come," Mr Birtharay said in a press conference earlier in the day
Relatives of the two cattle traders say they were targeted for being cattle traders. They allege that a former cattle trader from another village and his associates had been threatening them for over a year, asking them to quit the trade.
At Latehar's Nawada village, Mohammed Nizamuddin, also a cattle trader, says he was to accompany the two victims of the alleged crime to a cattle fair in the adjoining Chatra distrct. "On Friday morning, they were taking eight oxen to the fair. I had told them I would meet them on the way. At about 5:30 am, I arrived at the spot where I was to meet them. I was on a motorbike. Suddenly I heard someone shouting asking some other people to attack me. I recognized one person called Binod Prajapati who I have named in my complaint to the police. I somehow escaped. I later came to know that the two others had been killed and hung from a tree," Mr Nizamuddin alleged.
Mr Prajapati, who also belongs to Jhabar, has not been arrested though.
The police say they have no evidence against Mr Prajapati. "In our preliminary investigations, we have found no link between him and the crime," said Mr Birthare. "I was not even in the area at the time of the incident. I used to be a cattle trader but I gave up the trade three years ago. I do odd jobs and am also a farmer. I knew these three men but had no rivalry with them," he said. "I don't belong to any right-wing organisation. You can verify this independently. But if you have decided to hang me what can I say," Mr Prajapati pleaded.