A Muslim man was allegedly beaten to death by a mob of cow vigilantes on Saturday on suspicion of smuggling beef in Maharashtra’s Nashik district, reported The Times of India.

The victim was Afaan Abdul Majid Ansari, a resident of Qureshi Nagar in Mumbai’s Kurla. Ansari and his friend Nasir Hussain Shaikh were transporting 450 kilograms of meat in a car from Ahmednagar to Mumbai when the crowd stopped them.

In his complaint, Shaikh told the police that when they reached a toll gate in Sinnar town, someone spotted the meat in the car that led to the attack, Nashik Rural Superintendent of Police Shahaji Umap told The Times of India. “We are investigating who at Sinnar could have alerted the attackers,” the Umap said.

Ansari and Shaikh were alive when police reached the spot on being informed about the attack. However, the 32-year-old died while the two were being taken to a hospital. The police have registered a first information report based on Shaikh’s complaint and arrested 11 persons so far, the newspaper reported.

Police have also scanned CCTV camera footage and zeroed in on the suspects based on their mobile phone location, Umap told The Times of India. The police have sent the meat for a forensic test to find out if it was buffalo meat or beef, Nashik Rural deputy SP Sunil Bhamre told the newspaper.

The development comes week after another Muslim man had died in Nashik district on suspicion of transporting cattle for slaughter. The police arrested six persons, some of whom are associated with the Hindutva organisation Rashtriya Bajrang Dal, for killing Lukman Ansari.

The incident took place on June 8 when Ansari and two of his associates, Aqueel Gavandi and Pappu Paddi were transporting cattle in a vehicle. They were intercepted by 10 to 15 members of the Hindutva organisation at Nashik’s Igatpuri area. Gavandi ran awy, while the other two were beaten up by the cow vigilantes.