A man who had been allegedly attacked by unidentified persons while transporting cattle in Chattisgarh’s Raipur district died in a hospital on Tuesday, reported The Indian Express.

Saddam Qureshi, 23, had been in hospital for 10 days.

Two other men accompanying him, identified as 35-year-old Guddu Khan and 23-year-old Chand Miya Khan, were found dead on June 7. The three men had been allegedly attacked while travelling together.

Additional Superintendent of Police Kirtan Rathore confirmed that no arrest has yet been made in the case. The police had earlier said they were waiting to record Qureshi’s statement upon his recovery.

The police had said the men were found lying on the rocks below a bridge in the Arang area. They said they had received information about the men being chased by some unidentified persons, “after which they were found lying below the Mahanadi bridge”.

According to doctors at Raipur’s Shri Balaji Super Speciality Hospital, Qureshi was in a coma until his death.

“He had a major head injury on the right side of his brain due to which his head had swollen and blood circulation had decreased,” Deepak Jaiswal, medical superintendent at the hospital, told The Indian Express.

Jaiswal added: “We performed decompressive craniectomy surgery on his head and another gastro-related surgery. He has also suffered multiple fractures on his ribs, shoulder, pelvis, left hand and spine.”

On June 9, The Indian Express quoted Rathore as saying that the bodies of Guddu Khan and Chand Miya Khan had external injuries, but it was difficult to say whether they had been sustained by falling off the Mahanadi bridge or if they had been inflicted by assault.

Qureshi and Chand Miya Khan were cousins who hailed from Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur district.

“They fell off the bridge from a height of around 30 feet and landed on stones,” he said. “Only doctors can clarify how the injuries were caused.”

Rathore had also told The Indian Express that the statements of the family members will be recorded and that the phone call records of the men will be checked.

A cousin of Qureshi and Chand Miya Khan had said that the two men called home multiple times between 2 am and 4 am on June 7 while being allegedly assaulted.

The cousin claimed that during one of these calls, which lasted 47 minutes, Qureshi could be heard screaming for help and pleading with his attackers.

“We could also hear some men ask him, ‘Kahan se laaye ho…chodenge nahi [where did you bring it from…we will not spare you],’” said the cousin.

He also claimed that during one of the calls, Chand Miya Khan told the family that their vehicle was stopped and that they were under attack.

“Then someone snatched his phone,” said the cousin, according to the newspaper. “We did not call the police at the time since we didn’t think it would go to such an extent.”

The cousin said that the family kept trying to call Chand Miya Khan back but he did not pick up the phone. “Finally, around 5 am, a police official picked up and said he was dead,” he added.