In a shocking incident, a man was allegedly beaten to death by the villagers at Muppireddypally in Toopran mandal of Medak District in the wee hours of Thursday. A resident of Muppireddypally R. Ramaswamy, (50), used to perform poojas in temples late in the night.

Recently three persons died in the village and villagers suspected that Ramaswamy's `black magic' (late night poojas) could be the reason behind their death. On Wednesday night, some locals dragged Ramaswamy out of his house and beat him to death.

The police rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control. The police sent body to government hospital for post-mortem. The police said that the accused were absconding and search was on for them.