Cow vigilantes thrash 2 men, throw them in canal; 1 dies   

Two men were beaten up and thrown into a canal in Haryana's Palwal district allegedly by some cow vigilantes, leading to the death of one of the victims, the police said on Tuesday.

Of the 11 accused in the case, five have been arrested, they said.

According to police, the accused intercepted a truck in Palwal district on February 22 on suspicion of cow smuggling.

The truck was transporting cattle from Rajasthan to Lucknow when the driver lost his way in the dark of the night and passed through Haryana's Palwal where the incident occurred, a police official said.

The bike-borne accused intercepted the truck driver and helper, beat them up badly and later threw them into a canal.

"Truck driver Balkishan swam to safety but helper Sandeep's body was fished out from the canal on Sunday," Palwal's Deputy Superintendent of Police (Crime) Manoj Verma said on Tuesday.

The arrested accused have been identified as Devraj, Nikhil, Naresh, Pawan and Pankaj hailing from Palwal, Gurugram and Nuh districts, the officer said, adding Sandeep's post-mortem revealed that he suffered multiple grievous injuries.

The driver showed some documents related to the transportation of cows and these were being verified, the DSP said.