Patna, Aug. 3: Bajrang Dal members and residents today publicly thrashed three persons apparently transporting beef to Calcutta, the first such incident in Bihar in recent memory that comes less than a week after the BJP assumed power in partnership with Nitish Kumar.

Police said a group intercepted a truck, suspecting it to be carrying beef, around 6am near a petrol pump at Shahpur in Bhojpur district, around 90km west of Patna, on National Highway 84. They beat up the driver and two other occupants of the vehicle.

Arjun Singh, who introduced himself as a Bajrang Dal worker, openly claimed credit. "It was we who caught the truck loaded with beef, and not the police," he said.

"They (the police) visited the spot and saved the accused. We have demanded suspension of the Shahpur station house officer for his links with the beef suppliers," he added.

What Arjun meant by saying the police "saved" the accused was that the trio were arrested, implying a worse fate would have awaited them had they not been "saved".

Bhojpur SP Avakash Kumar said the three arrested people - Mohammad Sarfuddin, Mohammad Ajmullah Khan and Mohammad Ghulam Khan - were residents of Rohtas district.

Shahpur station house officer Bipin Bihari said the identities of those involved in the assault on the trio were being ascertained.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had last month acknowledged that violence in the name of cow protection was tarnishing the image of the country and damaging the social fabric. The Centre has put the onus of curbing such violence on the states.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar, before he tied up with the BJP, had said in June that gau rakshaks should first take care of cattle, else all their work would be useless.

Today, Bajrang Dal workers and the others also blocked the highway and paralysed traffic for over four hours, alleging that beef trade was flourishing in the area. Additional armed forces were sent from Ara, the district headquarters. The road blockade was removed after senior officers promised action against the accused.

Jagdispur sub-divisional police officer Dayashankar said a sample of the meat seized had been sent to a Patna laboratory for testing.

The beef law in Bihar is not as black and white as in some other states. Inspector-general of police, Patna zone, N.H. Khan said: "Action has been initiated against the three persons under the Bihar Preservation and Improvement of Animals Act, 1955. Under Section 3 of this act, slaughter of cows, calves, bulls, bullocks or she-buffaloes is banned unless the local administration gives permission. The permission is granted with a lot of preconditions.

"Under Section 4 of this act, transport and export of cattle is prohibited. There is also a clause under the IPC against promoting enmity between two communities."

If convicted, the accused can be jailed for up to three years.

The trio are learnt to have said they had picked up the meat from a slaughterhouse in Ranisagar, Bhojpur district. They reportedly told the police the meat was to go to Calcutta - where beef is legal - via Muzaffarpur and Bhagalpur.

The trio, police sources said, told their interrogators they collected meat from the Ranisagar slaughterhouse once or twice a month, depending on the demand.

Later, a team of civil and police officials raided the slaughterhouse. The SDPO said the slaughterhouse was operating without a licence. "We have sealed the slaughterhouse and efforts are on to nab its owner," he added.