Naseem Qureshi, 56, died earlier this week after being attacked by a mob on suspicion of carrying beef.

Police in India have arrested three men in eastern Bihar state in connection with the death of a Muslim man who was attacked because he was suspected of carrying beef, a police official said.

The victim, Naseem Qureshi, 56, died earlier this week after being attacked by a mob on suspicion of carrying beef, the sale and consumption of which is restricted in some parts of the country by local governments.

Qureshi was allegedly surrounded by more than 20 people and attacked, according to a police statement in court.

Police intervened but he died on the way to the hospital, according to the statement.

Ramchandra Tiwari, head of Rasulpur police station in Bihar, where the crime took place, told Reuters news agency by phone on Saturday that three people were arrested.

Cows are sacred in Hinduism, and there have been frequent attacks on those accused of killing them for meat or leather, predominantly people from the minority Muslim population or those on the lower rungs of India’s ancient caste system.

Hardline Hindu groups have been demanding a complete ban on cow slaughter across India.

Self-styled Hindu cow vigilante groups have taken to enforcing the law themselves ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government came to power in 2014.

Bihar is currently ruled by a regional party, and Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party sits in the opposition.