A Class 12 student was shot dead in Faridabad, Haryana, after being mistaken for a cattle smuggler. The victim, Aryan Mishra, was chased for 25 kilometers by a five-member gang before being killed, as reported by IndiaToday. All the accused were subsequently arrested by the Faridabad Police.
On the night of August 23, 19-year-old Aryan went out with his friends Harshit and Shanky in an SUV to eat noodles. The gang, identified as cow vigilantes, during investigation told police that they had received information about cattle smugglers and mistakenly believed Aryan and his friends were involved.
The accused, who were traveling in a separate vehicle, signalled for the SUV to stop. Harshit, who was driving the car with Aryan in the front seat and Shanky and two women in the back, was startled by the command.
The police revealed that Harshit and Shanky had recently been involved in a dispute with a man , leading to a legal case against Shanky.
Mistaking the signal for a confrontation related to their earlier dispute, they attempted to flee.
Believing them to be cattle smugglers, the vigilantes gave chase.Harshit drove for approximately 25 kilometres before crashing through a barrier at the Palwal toll plaza.The accused then fired on the car. A bullet shattered the rear window and struck Aryan, who was sitting in the front passenger seat.
After Aryan was hit, Harshit stopped the car. The attackers then approached and fired a second shot directly into Aryan's chest, resulting in his death.
A Faridabad Police official confirmed that the arrested suspects are Anil Kaushik, Varun, Krishna, Adesh, and Saurav.
Initially, the accused attempted to mislead the investigation by claiming they had disposed of the murder weapon in a canal. However, the weapon was later recovered from Anil's residence.