The incident took place last evening when a team from the SDMC's veterinary department were on duty in the area, and the locals attacked them after spotting a carcass in their tempo, police said.
The deceased, identified as Shankar (38) and other victims, were contractual employees of the municipal corporation.
"When police checked their tempo, they found a dead animal inside. Later, some locals somehow heard about it and approached the tempo and started beating the four persons," said a senior police officer.
"A case of murder has been registered against unknown persons and police have launched a manhunt to nab accused and further investigation is on," he added.
A senior SDMC official said that they were on duty when the crowd mistook them for cattle thieves. "While one was killed in the attack, others were injured, who have been admitted to a hospital.