The Indian Express: A man was beaten up and part of his house set on fire by a mob after a dead cow was reportedly found outside his house in a village under Deori police station area of Giridih district on Tuesday afternoon, police said.

According to the police, a mob attacked the house of Usman Ansari at Beria Hatiatand village in Deori area, nearly 200 km from Ranchi, on Tuesday after some people spotted the carcass of a cow.

By the time the police reached the spot, the mob had beaten up Ansari and set fire to a part of his house.

Our men and officials braved the crowd and immediately rescued Ansari and his family members. When the police tried to take him to hospital, there was resistance from the crowd. There was heavy stone-pelting. We had to open fire in the air, said Jharkhand police spokesperson and ADG (Operations) R K Mullik.

One person, identified as Krishna Pandit, was injured when the police fired several rounds in the air to disperse the mob. About 50 policemen were reportedly injured in the stone-pelting.

Both Ansari and Pandit are reported to be in a stable condition and have been shifted to a hospital in Dhanbad for better medical care.

The mob was highly charged and nearly 50 of our men sustained injuries in the stone-pelting. The situation has been brought under control, said Mullik.

Over 200 security personnel, including senior officers, have been deployed at the spot.

Representational image of a gang of gau rakshaks.