The incident took place in Tetaria Mod, which falls under the Nabinagar police station, when Palamu residents Mujahid Raain, Arman Ansari, Chaman Mansoori, Wakil Ansari and Ajit Sharma were heading towards Sasaram in a car.
The incident angered the local residents, who first held all the five travellers hostage and then beat Mujahid, Arman and Chaman all in their mid 30s to death. Two others, severely injured, are undergoing treatment at a hospital.
According to the police, handwritten posters were put up and several pamphlets bearing the threat were scattered in the Goh area of Aurangabad district in the traditional left-wing extremist style