Bhubaneswar, July 13 - A group of villagers lynched a bear after it mauled a woman to death in Orissa's Ganjam district, police said Monday.

Khali Behera, 55, resident of Badamahuri village under Kabisuryanagar police station, some 250 km from here, had gone to a forest near her village to collect firewood when the bear attacked her, A.C. Pahi, inspector in charge of the police station, told IANS over phone.

Hundreds of villagers rushed to the spot, where they located the bear and beat it to death, the official said.

Police have begun a probe after sending the carcass for autopsy.