A driver and a conductor of a mini truck found themselves in a dangerous situation after losing their way while transporting cows in Haryana’s Palwal district. The duo were brutally assaulted by self-proclaimed cow vigilantes who alleged they were smuggling cows, resulting in the conductor’s death.
The incident occurred on 22 February when driver Balkishan and conductor Sandeep were transporting cattle in a pickup truck from Rajasthan to Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. However, they lost direction and sought help from the emergency police station.
According to driver Balkishan, who survived, one of the police personnel, identified as driver Ranveer Singh, made them open the truck. “There were three police officers. We asked for directions as we were lost. The police driver, whose name is Ranveer Singh, made us open our truck and inspected the cows and checked the documents. After that, the police handed us over to three unknown people and left the place,” Balkishan alleged.
“The three unknown people took our keys and started beating us indiscriminately,” he added.
The men were joined by two more, who assaulted the duo with lathis, swords, and hammers, causing multiple fractures and stab injuries. According to a report, the five men were associated with a cow protection group.
“After beating us with kirpans (a type of sharp sword), they took us to a deep canal where both Sandeep and I were thrown to die,” Balkishan told local media.
While Balkishan managed to swim up the canal, Sandeep could not. His body was found eight days after the assault on March 2 in Gurugram’s Sohna area.
Soon after rescuing himself from being killed, Balkishan lodged a police complaint at the Camp police station.
Five arrested, says Haryana police
Five men—Pankaj, Nikhil, Devraj, Pawan, and Naresh, who call themselves cow vigilantes—have been arrested on charges of kidnapping.
“A group of bike-borne men stopped the vehicle, severely thrashed the driver, identified as Balkishan, and his helper, Sandeep. They later dumped them into a canal. While the driver managed to swim to safety, the helper’s body was recovered from the canal on Sunday,” said Palwal deputy superintendent of police (crime) Manoj Verma
While Pankaj, Nikhil, and Devraj are residents of Palwal, Pawan and Naresh belonged to Gurugram and Nuh, respectively.
The Haryana police have, however, refuted driver Balkishan’s claims that they were handed over to the cow vigilantes. They alleged that the driver had asked for instructions and ran into the accused by themselves.
Further investigations are ongoing.
