Police confirmed that the two had jumped into the river for fear that they may be attacked. Police confirmed that the two had jumped into the river for fear that they may be attacked.

A truck driver who jumped into a river fearing he may be assaulted after his vehicle accidentally killed three cows in Sultanpur town of Raisen district was found dead on Saturday.

Manubhai, aged around 45, and his cleaner Mohsin Raees Khan had jumped into the Barna river after their wheat-laden truck had killed three stray cows some distance before the bridge late on Thursday night. The duo were trying to speed away to escape mob fury when their vehicle had hit another truck and come to a halt. They had jumped into the river.

While the 22-year-old cleaner had managed to swim to safety and spent the night sitting on a rock, there was no trace of the driver who had jumped before him.

Raisen SP Deepak Varma and Inwati confirmed that the two had jumped into the river for fear that they may be attacked.

In-charge of Sultanpur Police Station Jaipal Inwati told The Sunday Express that divers were pressed into service to look for Manubhai who had neither contacted his family members or the owner of the transport company.

“I sat the whole night on a rock. I was shivering and running fever but preferred to sit there. We jumped into the river because we were scared for our lives and thought we would not be spared for killing the cows. Three-four people were abusing us,” Mohsin had told this paper on Friday from the Sultanpura Police Station.

He had also hoped that Manubhai had escaped. “The water was enough to drown us, but he knows swimming,” the cleaner had said. Police claimed at the time that there was not much water in the river.

Police said the transport company had sent three trucks to Sultanpur to load wheat. The trucks were on their way to Sachin GIDC near Surat in Gujarat when the last truck had hit the stray cows sitting on the road. The death of cows and the subsequent accident involving two vehicles had brought traffic to a halt that night.

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Police had booked the truck driver under Section 429 of the IPC (mischief by killing or maiming cattle etc, an offence punishable with imprisonment of up to five years).

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