Love to trek? Then the next time you camp during one, make sure you have the local villagers in confidence because not doing so proved costly for five men.

The 5 students from Bengaluru who went on a trekking trip to Savandurga were reportedly pulled out of their cars in the middle of the night, tied to a  pole and were beaten up for hours by the residents of Katukarapalya village in the outskirts of Ramanagar on Sunday.

The villagers mistook the five students- identified as Amruth, Raghu, Srikanth, Vedamurthy and Krishna- for cattle thieves. The students had decided to take rest in their car as it was late in the night, reported Bangalore Mirror.

The students’ efforts to explain to the villagers were in vain. It was only when the police turned up in the morning, were the students relieved.

According the police, the villagers complained that cattle theft was a menace in the village. In the night, thieves would latch the doors of the owner’s house from outside and steal their livestock. Similarly two thieves had come on Sunday too. It was when they were chasing them they found the five people sleeping in the car, reported The Hindu.

"Right now, our priority is to ensure that the four youth get treatment. We will also record their statements," a police official said.