Police arrested 71 people on Wednesday for their alleged involvement in lynching 10 people just a day ago, police said.
"We have arrested 71 people from Yerrakote and Baralahalli villages for their alleged involvement in the attacks and sent them to 14-day judicial remand for investigation," Karnataka inspector general of police (IGP) Malini Krishnamurthy said.
According to the local police, six people were burnt alive when their vehicle was torched at Yerrakote and three people bludgeoned to death at Baralahalli village in Chickballapur district when unruly mobs attacked them with lethal weapons.
The accused (all men) were nabbed from the twin villages after gathering information on them from eyewitnesses and local authorities. Two cases of rioting, murder and arson have been registered against them under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Krishnamurthy said.
"The enraged mobs lynched the victims as they suspected them to be thieves and cheats from Ananthapur district of Andhra Pradesh after they tried to snatch gold ornaments from a woman at Barlahalli village," Krishnamurthy said.
According to an eyewitness, the victims were attacked when they drove into the village in the vehicle and tried to rob the woman (Thirumalamma).
"The mob stopped the vehicle, dragged out six of them and burnt them alive after tying them to the vehicle, which was torched. Three of the other six who escaped from the spot were chased and beaten to death at Yerrakote," the eyewitness told the local police.
The district police rushed three armed platoons to the two villages to control the situation and restore order.