Three men were beaten up, allegedly by members of the Bajrang Dal, on suspicion of carrying beef in Bihar’s Bhojpur district on Thursday, reported The Hindu. This is the first such incident of cow vigilantism reported in Bihar, according to IANS.

The three men, who were rescued by the police from the mob, were later taken into custody. “A truck was intercepted by locals on the suspicion that it was carrying beef [cow meat],” said a senior police official Daya Shankar. “We’ve seized the truck and arrested three persons in this regard.”

The truck driver, however, claimed that they were carrying buffalo meat and not beef. “They will be interrogated about whether they were carrying beef or buffalo meat,” an unidentified police official told IANS.

The incident is a clear confirmation of the Bharatiya Janata Party assuming power in the state, said Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury. “Now only Hindutva policies will be implemented while he [Nitish Kumar] continues to remain the chief minister,” he said, according to PTI.