A Class 12 student was shot dead after being mistaken for a cattle smuggler by cow vigilantes in Haryana's Faridabad. The incident which took place in August, has come to light now with the arrest of five persons.
The 19-year-old victim, Aryan Mishra, and his friends -- Harshit and Shanky -- were chased for about 30 kilometers on the Delhi-Agra National Highway before he Mishra was shot dead.
The three boys had stepped out in a Renault Duster car for noodles around midnight on August 23. The accused persons had reportedly told police that they received information about cattle smugglers recceing the city in a Duster and a Toyota Fortuner.
The accused cow vigilantes -- trying to stop the cattle smugglers -- spotted Mishra's Duster near Haryana's Gadhpuri and signalled it to stop, India Today reported.
Harshit was in the driver seat and the victim was sitting next to him. Two other women and Shanky were seated in the backseat.
Reportedly, Harshit and Shanky had recently been involved in a dispute with a man and when the accused asked them to stop the car, they assumed it to be the same man. Thinking that he was looking for a confrontation over the dispute, the boys sped away.
The vigilantes, who were now convinced that the Duster was occupied by cattle smugglers, began chasing them. Harshit drove for nearly 30 kilometers, breaking through the barrier at the Palwal toll plaza when the accused opened fire at their car, striking Aryan near the neck.
After the victim was shot, Harshit pulled over the car but, the cow vigilantes further approached the car and again fire at Mishra, this time it was his chest.
The accused cow vigilantes -- identified as Anil Kaushik, Varun, Krishna, Adesh and Saurav -- were arrested by the Faridabad Police.
The accused reportedly saw the two women in the backseat and thought that they had shot the wrong person, following which they fled the scene.
The teen victim was rushed to a hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries.
The accused initially also tried to mislead investigators by claiming that they threw the murder weapon into a canal, however, it was later recovered from accused Anil's house.
Police said that the accused are in custody and further investigation into the case is underway.
