Three individuals were beaten to death by a mob on suspicion of cattle theft in Kaliakair upazila of Gazipur on early Sunday.

The incident took place at about 4:00am in Bagchala area under Fulbaria union, where a group of 10-12 suspected cattle thieves allegedly arrived in a pickup van and attempted to steal cattle from the house of one Abu Bakkar Siddique, local people said.

Sensing the intrusion, members of the household alerted local residents, who chased the group and managed to detain three of them, they said.

Later, the angry mob beat them severely, leaving them injured.

They also set fire to the pickup van used by the suspects.

On information, police rushed in, rescued the injured and took them to Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared them dead.

Officer-in-charge of Kaliakair Police Station Shahidul Islam said that police responded promptly after receiving the information and took the victims to hospital.