A cow vigilante was allegedly shot at by cattle smugglers in the wee hours of Saturday near Mahu-Chopta village in Haryana's Nuh district, police said.
The victim identified as Sonu Sarpanch, a native of Rewari district, was rushed to a private hospital in Faridabad from where he was referred to Gurugram's Medanta Medicity where he is being treated, they said.
Nuh Superintendent of Police Narendra Bijarnia said the incident took place on the Delhi-Mumbai expressway when the cow vigilantes were chasing a vehicle of cattle smugglers.
Bijarnia said that an FIR will be soon registered into the matter as per the complaint.
The victim Sonu is undergoing treatment at Medanta Medicity, he added.
Chaman Khatana, a cow vigilante, said the incident took place around 4:45 am on Saturday when a team of seven cow vigilantes chased the pick-up jeep of the cow smugglers.
Khatana said that the smugglers' pick-up jeep overturned on the road near Mau-Chopta village after which they began running away and one was caught by the cow vigilantes. When Sonu caught another, the other cow smugglers opened fire and he got critically injured after getting a bullet shot in his stomach, he added.
After getting information about the incident, the cow vigilantes gathered outside the Medanta hospital. Expressing ire over the incident, they demanded protection for the cow vigilantes.
