Bhubaneswar, April 9: A mob at Balia village in Koraput district lynched four unidentified persons suspecting them of kidnapping children.

However, one of the suspects has been critically injured and is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Koraput district.

The mob also torched three vehicles - a Tata Safari, a commander jeep and a motorcycle - which reportedly belonged to the deceased.

The incident that took place last night came to light today. Police said the deceased, who were in their late 30s, were chased and stoned to death by the mob. Their blood-soaked bodies were found on the main road connecting Jeypore and Koraput, about 550km from here.

The villagers, who killed the men, from whose possession a driving licence issued in Madhya Pradesh was recovered, thought that the victims were part of a racket that kidnapped children and sold them outside the state.

The police have arrested nearly 45 people in this connection. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem.

A senior police officer said that though it had not yet been established that whether the deceased were actually involved in any kidnapping, their link with the ganja (cannabis) trade had been proved with the recovery of some packets of the contraband from the spot.

Koraput superintendent of police Charan Singh Meena said: "We have recovered from them a driving licence that had been issued from Madya Pradesh. However, we strongly feel that they are from Chhattisgarh. Efforts to conclusively ascertain their identity are being made."

Meena also said that so far not a single case of child theft had been reported from the area.