In Haryana’s Faridabad, a Class 12 student was allegedly chased in a car and killed by cow vigilantes who mistakenly thought he was a cattle smuggler. Police have arrested five members of the cow vigilante group involved in the August 23 attack. The accused have been identified as Anil Kaushik, Varun, Krishna, Adesh, and Saurabh.

The accused mistook Aryan Mishra and his friends, Shanky and Harshit, for cattle smugglers and chased their car for about 30 kilometers near Gadhpuri on the Delhi-Agra National Highway in Haryana.

Sources said the cow vigilantes had received information that some cattle smugglers were scouting the area in Renault Duster and Toyota Fortuner cars, looking for cattle to capture.

Accused Shoot Faridabad Student After Misidentifying Car 

The arrested accused, while searching for the cattle smugglers, spotted a Duster car at Patel Chowk and asked the driver, Harshit, to stop. However, Aryan and his friends didn’t stop because Shanky had a rivalry with some people, and they thought these were goons sent to harm them.

When they didn’t stop, the accused fired at the car, hitting Aryan near the neck as he sat in the passenger seat. After the car finally stopped, they shot Aryan again, fearing he and his friends might fire back.

Sources said that when the accused saw two women in the car, they realized they had shot the wrong person and fled the scene.

Aryan was taken to a hospital but died a day later. The weapon used in the incident was illegal. The accused are in police custody, and the investigation is ongoing.