Policeman and one other dead after violence over cow slaughter in north India

A senior policeman and another man were killed on Monday in violent protests over a dead cow, an animal sacred in Hindu culture, in India's Uttar Pradesh state, police said.A crowd angered over what they believed was the slaughter of the cow threw stones and torched vehicles outside a police station.The officer died when he was hit by stones and the other person was shot dead, senior police official Anand Kumar said in a televised news conference."Villagers complained after they found a dead cow, and took to the streets to protest. They blocked a road with a tractor and pelted stones," he said.So-called cow vigilantes have attacked and killed a number of Muslims involved in transporting cattle to slaughterhouses in recent years. However, the exact circumstances of Monday's protests were not clear.