Jalpaiguri, Aug. 27: Two persons ferrying cows in a pick-up van were lynched by a group of villagers in Dhupguri early this morning as the villagers suspected the duo to be cattle rustlers.

The incident happened in Barohalia village under Dhupguri block of Jalpaiguri.

Sources said the villagers in Barohalia had alleged that for the past few days some incidents of cattle theft had occurred in their village and pick-up vans were being used to steal and transport the cattle.

From then the villagers had been on alert to nab the rustlers, a source informed.

"Today, around 2.30am, some villagers woke up as they heard a pick-up van moving through the village in high speed. Some of them came out and saw another pick-up van coming through the same route. They intercepted the vehicle and found seven cows loaded in it. The villagers asked for details about the cattle but the duo could not satisfy them," a police officer said.

"The agitated villagers entered into an altercation with the duo whom they suspected to be cattle rustlers and started beating them up. The two persons succumbed to injuries on the spot. The vehicle was ransacked by the villagers," the officer added.

Police reached the spot and recovered the bodies.

The deceased have been identified as Anwar Hossain, a resident of Sakunibala village in Cooch Behar and Hafizul Sheikh, a resident of Chotoguma village in Assam, police source said. Both Hossain and Sheikh were 19-year-old.

The police said they have seized the vehicle and the cattle. "A probe is on. We have come to know that Hossain had been involved in some petty crimes earlier while information about the other deceased is yet to reach us. We are trying to ascertain whether they were members of a cattle smuggling racket. Our officers are also working to collect the information about the attackers," the officer said.