Lucknow, June 2: A mob torched a truck, allegedly belonging to cattle smugglers, after it overturned while ferrying 40 cows in the western Uttar Pradesh district of Firozabad last night.

The Provincial Armed Constabulary has been deployed in the Mahadev Nagar area, 280km west of Lucknow, to avert any communal violence. Police said a suspected cattle smuggler had been arrested and they were looking for his two accomplices.

Twelve of the cows died in the accident while the rest were rescued with an earthmover brought by the police. The mob later damaged a police jeep and several other vehicles before torching the truck.

The police said the truck was travelling from Badaun to Kanpur. Ten cows are being treated for injuries.

Ramesh Chandra, a resident, said the mob went berserk after seeing so many dead cows. "We heard a deafening sound when the truck fell into the ditch and rushed to the spot. The police arrived after an hour," he said.