New Delhi: Three men were beaten up in Bihar’s Bhojpur district on Thursday by a group of Bajrang Dal activists over suspicion of transporting beef and have been handed over to the police. The truck in which the meat was being transported has been seized and the three have been arrested, Indian Express reported. According to district magistrate Sanjeev Kumar, the meat was obtained from an illegal slaughterhouse and has been sent for testing.

The driver of the truck, however, told the police that it was buffalo meat that was being transported, The Hindu reported.

According to The Hindu, the assailants also attempted to set the truck on fire but were stopped by the local police from doing so.

There is no word of whether the attackers have also been arrested.

An RJD leader has blamed the newly formed Nitish Kumar led BPJ-JD(U) government for the incident. “With the BJP government coming to power, such incidents of cow vigilantes and mob lynching will be a regular affair in the state,” he told Indian Express.

Sitaram Yechury, leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), echoed the same view, telling the Indian Express: “It is a clear confirmation that BJP has assumed power in Bihar. Now only Hindutva policies will be implemented while he (Nitish Kumar) continues to remain the Chief Minister,”

The incident took place in Rani Sagar area of Bhojpur on NH 84 between Ara and Buxar – which was blocked by locals who demanded the closure of the slaughterhouse and action against the station house officer of Shahpur police station, under whose purview it falls. The blockade was later lifted after the police intervened.

Sources told India Today that locals in the area had received information about beef being smuggled from Rani Sagar.