Cow Activist Dies in Mathura Crash, Sparks Highway Protests

In Uttar Pradesh's Mathura district, the death of prominent cow protection activist Chandrashekhar, known locally as Farsa Wale Baba, in a road accident early Saturday morning sparked widespread protests and clashes with police along the Delhi-Agra national highway near the Kosi area.

The incident occurred between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. near Navipur village, when Chandrashekhar and his followers stopped a Nagaland-registered container truck on suspicion of carrying cattle for smuggling. A subsequent inspection revealed the vehicle was transporting grocery items, including soap, phenyl, and shampoo. As they engaged with the truck's occupants, a Rajasthan-registered truck loaded with wire approached from behind amid dense fog that reduced visibility to near zero. The truck collided with the stationary vehicles, killing Chandrashekhar on the spot. The truck's driver and conductor, both from Alwar, Rajasthan, sustained injuries; the driver later died during treatment at a hospital.

Mathura Senior Superintendent of Police Shlok Kumar described the event as a tragic accident with no connection to cattle smuggling. "The container he had stopped was found to contain groceries, and the truck...