Three persons were arrested on Monday in connection with the suspected lynching of a man in Bhangar on Sunday morning.

Police said at least two of the three arrested persons were shop owners who were part of a group of men who had allegedly hit the victim suspecting him to be a thief that allegedly caused his death.

An officer in the homicide wing of the detective department of Kolkata Police said CCTV footage had been obtained that was used to identify several persons who were part of the group that allegedly beat up Azgar Mallick — the victim. He was found unconscious in the market and later declared dead in a hospital.

The police identified the three arrested persons as Saharul Mollah, Saikat Mandal and Sheikh Rafikul Hassan.

"Three persons have been arrested. Search has been launched for a few others who have been identified to be present on the spot," said an officer in Lalbazar.

All three arrested persons have reportedly told the police that Mallick was beaten up as he was suspected to be a thief.

The police investigation has revealed that Mallick was tied up in front of one of the shops in Bhangar market and beaten up.

The preliminary post-mortem report has suggested that Mallick's death was caused because of "antemortem injuries and existing illness."

Two of them, who were arrested early on Monday morning were produced before the Baruipur court on Monday and remanded in police custody.

The third arrest was made on Monday afternoon. He would be produced before the court on Tuesday, the police said.

The incident happened early on Sunday morning when Mallick was found unconscious near the market after he was allegedly lynched to death.

Although the police said they did not get any witnesses to the incident initially, their probe was based on digital evidence that they gathered in the form of CCTV footage.

The police said many of the cameras installed near the market were defunct while many had their hard disks working without any output monitor.

"We are trying to retrieve all possible footage to identify all the persons who were present during the assault," said an officer.