A case of illegal transportation of cows was also registered against truck driver. (Representational)
A man from Maharashtra's Amravati district was killed, while two others injured, after they were attacked by a group of around a dozen people who accused them of smuggling cattle in Madhya Pradesh's Narmadapuram district, officials said on Wednesday.
According to the police, the accused waylaid the victims' truck at Barkhad village in Seoni Malwa area at around 1 am and stopped it using a tractor trolley.
They found around 30 bovine heads stuffed inside the vehicle. Two more animals also appeared to have been choked to death. Angry villagers subsequently attacked the three men, leaving them critically injured.
"We found out about the incident from some other villagers. The police force rushed to the spot within 15 minutes and rushed the three injured men to the government hospital in Seoni Malwa. One of the three men, identified as Nazir Ahmad, 50, who had suffered a head injury, died after a bout of vomiting at the hospital in the wee hours. The other two men, identified as Sheikh Lala and Mushtaq, are out of danger at the hospital," senior police officer Dr Gurkaran Singh said.
"A case of murder has been lodged against 10-12 unidentified villagers. At least four of them (all accused in criminal cases in past also) have been arrested," he said.
A case of illegal transportation of cows was also registered against truck driver Sheikh Lala who was injured in the attack.