FARIDABAD: A 19-year-old student was shot and killed in Haryana’s Faridabad district after he was mistaken for a cattle smuggler, sources said. The accused chased the victim’s car for 25 kilometres before killing him. Five people have been arrested in connection with the incident.
Aryan Mishra, the victim, went out with his friends Harshit and Shanky in a red SUV around midnight on August 23. The accused, identified as cow vigilantes, told police during questioning that they had received information that some cattle smugglers were conducting surveillance in the city using SUVs.
The accused, who was also in a car, spotted Aryan’s car and signaled it to stop. Harshit was driving the car, in which Aryan was also present. The vigilantes, now convinced that the SUV occupants were cattle smugglers, began chasing them. Harshit drove the car for about 25 kilometres and broke through the barrier at the Palwal toll plaza. The accused then opened fire on the car, and a bullet went through the rear window and struck Aryan, who was sitting shotgun.
After Aryan was shot, Harshit pulled over, but the attackers approached and fired another shot into Aryan’s chest, resulting in his death. A Faridabad Police official said the arrested suspects were identified as Anil Kaushik, Varun, Krishna, Adesh and Saurav. Police said the accused initially tried to mislead them by claiming they had thrown the murder weapon into a canal. However, the weapon was later recovered from Anil’s residence.
