New Delhi: A 45-year-old man was allegedly beaten to death while another person was injured over rumour of cow slaughter on Monday evening in Hapur district in western Uttar Pradesh.

Though News18 has reported that the police in the district have filed a case against two dozen people, several reports say that the police has said that it was a motorcycle accident that caused the fatality and the injury.

Police says, ‘There was a collision b/w 2 motorcycles in Hapur after which supporters of one of the motorbike riders beat 2 people who were on the other motorbike. Victims were admitted to the hospital,one died during treatment. Body sent for post-mortem. Investigation on.” pic.twitter.com/nNHIA4x97p — ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) June 19, 2018

The Hindu reported that villagers in Bajhaida Khurd said they had heard of some people smuggling cows from farms to slaughter them. When a mob went out on a search, they saw Qasim and Samayddin working at a farm in nearby Madapur village, and attacked them with sticks.

The police reached the spot soon after and though circle officer Pawan Kumar and police station in charge took the injured to a nearby private hospital, Qasim was declared brought dead.

But the tension in the area is far from over, as villagers from Bajhaida Khurd and Madapur confronted each other. According to The Hindu, The residents of Bajhaida Khurd alleged that Qasim was trying to smuggle the local cows and when they protested, he started attacking the villagers.

But according to Sameyddin’s family, the two were cutting grass for cattle feed when the villagers arrived and accused them of being involved in cow slaughter

Hapur Superintendent of Police Sankalp Sharma rejected the claim that rumours of cow slaughter led to the incident. “The victim’s family has given us a written complaint, saying that the beating and the fight was triggered after a motorbike hit some people,” he told The Hindu. “This has nothing to do with cow slaughter rumours. Police are investigating the matter and we will take strict action against the culprits.”

Police and personnel of the PAC were immediately deployed in the area.