Patna, Aug 18 (Deccan Chronicle): In another recent incident of mob violence, seven Muslim men in Bihar were thrashed by a group of cow vigilantes on Thursday over rumours of them having eaten beef.

The incident took place in Bihar’s Champaran village. Instead of the attackers, the victims have been arrested.

According to an NDTV report, the hateful incident occurred, when the self-appointed cow protectors barged into Kudoos Qureshi and Mohammed Sahabuddin’s home accusing them of stealing and slaughtering a calf for its meat on Wednesday night.

Along with the two targets, a few neighbours were also locked in a room and beaten with sticks. Stones were pelted at police personnel when they reached the spot.

However, instead of arresting the offenders, police have held victims for “hurting religious sentiments”. The victims have also been charged with animal cruelty.

Sanjay Kumar Jha, a police officer said that no action was taken against the offenders as there was no complaint against them.

"Initially our main task was to defuse the situation and it was due to large deployment of the police force that no untoward incident took place as mobs were descending from other villages also," the police officer said.