In a shocking incident, a driver of a pick up van in Bihar was attacked for allegedly scaring a bovine, reports The Hindustan Times.

Ganesh Mandal, 30, was driving home at Bochahi village in neighbouring Bhagalpur district from Saharsa on Thursday when he saw a cow in the middle of the national highway-107.

According to the police, he honked the horn so the cow could get out of the way, but the bovine got scared and ran away. This angered the cow's owner Ram Dular Yadav who bashed up Mandal with a baton.

When Yadav hit Mandal on his left eye, he fell unconscious. He was later taken to a primary health centre (PHC) in Saharsa.

The incident tool place Maina village in Sonbarsa Raj police station area, 250 km north of state capital Patna.

Mandal, after regaining consciousness, said that he could not see from his left eye. He was taken to Saharsa's government hospital. Later he went to Bhagalpur for treatment at the better-quipped medical hospital. The PHC doctor has said that it is likely that Mandal could lose his eye as he lost a lot of blood.

An FIR has been filed against Yadav, said Sonbarsa Raj police station SHO Mohammad Izhar Alam. Alam added that probe into the incident is still on.

Yadav has rejected the accusation that his cow was roaming on the highway. “I was, in fact, milking the cow when the driver scared it by honking the horn,” he said.