The West Bengal Police have arrested three people in Malda after a mob allegedly beat to death a man on Wednesday on the suspicion that he was a child abductor, the Hindustan Times reported. The unidentified man appears to be homeless and in his thirties, the police said.

The arrests were made on the basis of a video of the incident. The mob reportedly confronted the man in Bulbulchandi-Dubapara village and asked him why he had come there. Not satisfied with his response, they allegedly tied him to an electricity post and began beating him.

Police came to the spot and took the man to Malda Medical College and Hospital, but he died soon.

“We have arrested three persons so far in connection with the lynching incident,” Biswajit Mondal, inspector-in-charge of the Habibpur police station, told the Hindustan Times.

Authorities will organise awareness camps on Thursday to discourage people from believing in rumours of child abductions, Habibpur Block Development Officer Subhajit Jana said. He confirmed there have been no kidnapping cases in the area in the recent past.

The incident is similar to the lynching of two men in Assam last week. On Friday, a mob in central Assam’s Karbi Anglong district beat to death two young men from Guwahati who they suspected to be child abductors. Police arrested the main accused on Tuesday night. More than 28 people have been arrested for being part of the mob, and 35 for spreading rumours on social media.

On Wednesday, a mob in Jharkhand’s Godda district allegedly lynched two men on the suspicion of stealing cattle. In Aurangabad, Maharashtra, police arrested nine people for allegedly beating to death two tribal men in a village on the suspicion that they were robbers on Friday.