UP: Villagers assault driver of vehicle carrying animal bones and 2 cow vigilantes mistaken as his aides

A group of villagers in Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh assaulted the driver of a pick-up van carrying animal bones and two cow vigilantes whom them mistook as his associates, accusing them of being involved in illegal bovine trade, police said on Monday.

Officials said the bones were not of bovine and that these were being disposed by a contractor under a village cleanliness drive of Nagar Panchayat Govardhan in the district.

Police have arrested three villagers for taking the law into their own hands after registering a case against several people, 14 of them identified, under relevant sections of the IPC.

The incident took place in Raal village falling under Jait police station on Sunday evening, the police said.

The villagers intercepted the vehicle, held the driver captive and assaulted him. The driver was identified as Hamid, a resident of Hathras.

When two self-proclaimed cow vigilantes from Vrindavan -- Vikas Pandit and Balram Thakur -- reached the village and enquired about the incident, the villagers mistook them as the driver's associates. The duo too were held captive and assaulted.

A police team later reached the village and freed the three men, Superintendent of Police (City) Martand Prakash Singh said.

The three injured were hospitalised and later discharged.