The Bengaluru Police arrested 13 people on Thursday for allegedly lynching a 26-year-old man from Rajasthan at Pension Mohalla in the city’s Chamrajpet area on Wednesday afternoon.

The police said that the mob mistook the victim, Kulram Bachchanram, to be a kidnapper and beat him up. They had apparently seen some videos circulating on WhatsApp, warning about a child trafficking gang in Bengaluru. The mob assumed he was a kidnapper after they saw him wandering aimlessly, the police said.

The mob caught him, tied up his limbs and dragged him on the road while kicking and beating him with their hands and sticks. By the time the police reached the spot to rescue the man, he was bleeding profusely. He was soon taken to Victoria Hospital, but he died on the way.

“We are trying to ascertain his background and the purpose of his visit to the area,” a police officer told The Hindu.

“This tragic incident occurred because of rumours that were being circulated on social media about child abductors in the city,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Ravi D Channannavar told the newspaper. “There are no such gangs in the city and people should not heed to such rumours.”