Mistaken For Cattle Smuggler, Student Chased, Shot Dead In Haryana (Photo X @Shubham_fd)

‘Being suspected of cattle smugglers’, a car  was chased by cow vigilante groups for over 30 kilometers, finally opening fire at the victim’s neck, killing a Class 12 student near Haryana’s Gadhpuri on the Delhi-Agra National Highway. The accused, a five-member gang in a separate car, allegedly ‘mistaken’ an SUV involving the victim, Aryan and his friends to be cattle smugglers and chased the vehicle.

The incident happened on the night of August 23 when a cow vigilante group received information that some cattle smugglers were there in the city in Renault Duster and Toyota Fortuner cars to pick up the cattle. While searching for the smugglers, the accused saw the victim’s Duster car at Patel Chowk and then asked the driver to stop the car. The victim, Aryan, and his friends Harshit and Shanky had gone out to eat noodles. Harshit was driving the car and did not stop the car as Shanky had a rivalry with some other people, and they feared rivals might have sent goons to kill them, reported NDTV.

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After chasing the car for nearly 25 kilometres, the accused opened fire at the car, and a bullet shattered the rear window, striking Aryan’s neck, who was sitting in the front passenger seat. It is reported that the accused again fired at Aryan’s chest after the car stopped.

As the accused saw two women in the car, they understood they had shot the wrong person and subsequently fled the spot. Though Aryan was rushed to the hospital, he died a day later. The Faridabad police have arrested the accused, and the booked suspects are Anil Kaushik, Varun, Krishna, Adesh, and Saurav. The gun used for firing the victim was also illegal, The New Indian Express reported, citing sources.

However, an investigation is going on, and the accused cow vigilantes have reportedly told the police that they mistakenly believed Aryan and his friends to be involved in the cattle smuggling.

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The incident follows another case when a cow vigilante group beat a 24-year-old West Bengal migrant worker to death in Haryana after suspecting the young scrap dealer of consuming beef. The victim, Sabir Malik, was found dead near a canal.