A mob beat a 35-year-old Dalit man, a cattle skinner, to death on suspicion of killing a cow in Deogarh district of Odisha. His aide too was injured in the attack, which took place in Kundeijuri village under Riamal police station area on Wednesday.
The police said six people have been arrested in connection with the incident.
The deceased has been identified as Kishore Chamar, and his injured associate was Goutam Nayak, residents of neighbouring Kaunsidhipa village.
Cattle skinners remove the hide from a slaughtered animal.
A group of people found the duo chopping the meat of a cow in a forest near their village. The severed head of a cow was also lying there, police said.
Although the victim tried to explain to the crowd that they were doing it after the death of the cow, they accused him of killing the animal.
The two were beaten up by the group, and Chamar died on the spot. Though Nayak was injured, he managed to escape, Deogarh SP Anil Kumar Mishra told news agency PTI.