India, July 18 -- Two people were arrested on Friday morning for allegedly beating a 45-year-old clothing store owner to death after he uprooted a bitter gourd plant from government land while trimming grass in Jagodih village, police said.

The deceased, Virendra Singh, used to run a clothing store and also did farming in his village. "His relative had planted a bitter gourd and a jackfruit plant on the empty government land along national highway 2 in Bihar. The deceased had accidentally uprooted the plants while cutting the grass on the government land to make dry cow dung cakes," a police officer said.

Arjun Singh and Alok Mehta accused the deceased of deliberately uprooting the plants and attacked him with sticks. "The attackers wen...