Two suspected cattle thieves were lynched by a mob in Assam’s Nagaon district on Sunday, the police told PTI. A complaint was filed by the parents of the deceased and an investigation is under way.

The incident happened in the afternoon in a village called Kasamari in the district. The deceased have been identified as Abu Hanifa and Riazuddin Ali. According to Nagaon police chief Debaraj Upadhyaya, the two deceased were spotted by some people from the village to be “unlawfully lifting cattle” from a grazing field close to the village.

“Whoever saw them raised an alarm,” Upadhyaya told Scroll.in. As a result, “thousands of people” from the village arrived at the spot and started assaulting Hanifa and Ali, who were trying to flee the spot, said the cop. By the time the police arrived, the two were grievously injured, and finally succumbed to their injuries in the hospital.

An FIR has been lodged under Section 302, which pertains to murder, of the Indian Penal Code. No arrests have been made yet. “We are approaching with caution since this is a sensitive issue,” said Upadhyaya.