The Haryana Police on Sunday arrested five men for allegedly abducting two persons on the suspicion of cow smuggling in Palwal, The Times of India reported. The group had also allegedly assaulted the truck driver and his assistant, which led to the death of one of them.

The incident took place on February 22. The truck driver, Balkishan, and the assistant, Sandeep, were legally transporting milch cows from Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan to Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow when they lost their way in Haryana, the newspaper reported.

The persons accused confessed to having killed the assistant, The Times of India reported.

Manoj Verma, the Palwal deputy superintendent of police (crime), told the newspaper that the two men were intercepted and abducted by the alleged cow vigilantes. The two were allegedly assaulted and thrown into a canal at Hajipur near Gurugram.

The driver survived after swimming out of the canal and filed a police complaint, The Hindu reported. The body of the assistant was retrieved from the canal on Sunday, about 15 km from the location where it had been dumped.

The police are searching for other persons accused in the matter.

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