A young man belonging to the minority community was bludgeoned to death on the outskirts of Patna on the charge of cattle theft, bringing back the spectre of mob lynching that had stopped in the run-up to the recent Assembly elections in Bihar.

Seven suspects have been arrested.

The incident happened at Phulwarisharif, a satellite town of Patna, during the small hours of Wednesday. The victim has been identified as Muhammad Alamgir, 32.

Alamgir, who had been living in a slum, was allegedly caught untying a buffalo from the cattle shed of Srikant Rai around 3am. An accomplice of Alamgir managed to escape.

“Srikant heard some noise in his cattle shed and saw two men trying to untie one of his 12 buffaloes. He raised the alarm and several people surrounded the place,” a resident said.

Alamgir was thrashed for several hours till someone informed the police, who took him to hospital. He died there in the afternoon.

“The police told us that he was beaten to death while trying to steal cattle. I don’t believe this,” Alamgir’s mother Noorjahan Khatoon said.

The police said Alamgir had previously gone to jail on the allegation of cattle theft.