Lucknow, May 12 (IANS): Five persons were beaten up by a mob of cow vigilantes for slaughtering a buffalo in a dairy unit in Aligarh, police said on Friday.

Following the incident, which took place at a dairy owned by one Kalu Baghel in the Gandhi Park area in Pannaganj of Aligarh, police booked those involved in the slaughter of the animal.

According to the dairy owner, he had sold a buffalo to some people as it had stopped giving milk. One Imran had purchased the buffalo on the condition that they would slaughter it in the dairy compound and then take away its meat for sale.

But when four butchers and the seller were overseeing the slaughter and its blood flowed out of the dairy compound, a mob barged in and beat up those slaughtering the animal. Surprisingly, while the cow vigilantes were let off, those who had purchased the buffalo and the dairy owner have been arrested.

Police officials privy to the incident said the case was being probed and that the guilty would be brought to book.