PATNA: Three men were beaten to death at a village in Bihar Friday morning by a mob that accused them of stealing cattle, police said.

Police said the three were spotted at around 4:30 am at Baniyapur village in Saran district with a pick-up truck that allegedly had cattle.

Villagers caught hold of the men and beat them mercilessly until they collapsed.

The three men were taken by the police to a nearby hospital in Chhapra. Doctors said they were "brought dead".

Visuals this morning showed family members of the three villagers weeping and lying on the ground in despair.

According to the police, the villagers were angry because there had been some incidents of cattle theft in recent weeks.

Family members of the men killed in mob attack have filed a first information report against the villagers. A police case has also been filed against the alleged cattle thieves by the villagers.

Three men have been arrested in the case. Police said they have not yet verified if the three men killed in mob attack, who were from a nearby village, were previously involved in any criminal cases. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem.

Earlier this month, another man was beaten to death on suspicion of cattle theft at a village in Tripura. Budhi Kumar Tripura, 36, was killed by a mob in Raishyabari, a border village of Tripura's Dhalai district on July 2.