Cow protectors lynch 12th grade student because he thinks he is a smuggler

A Class 12 student was shot dead by cow activists in Faridabad, Haryana, who mistook him for a cow smuggler. Five vigilantes chased the victim, Aryan Mishra, in a car and shot him dead on August 23.

The victim and his two friends Shanky and Harshit were chased by the accused, identified as Anil Kaushik, Varun, Krishna, Adesh and Saurabh, for about 30 kilometres before they shot at Aryan, NDTV reported. The incident took place near Haryan's Gadhpuri on the Delhi-Agra national highway.

The cow protectors received information that some cow smugglers in Renault Duster and Toyota Fortuner were scouting the area and taking cattle, the report said.

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While searching for the cattle smugglers, the accused saw a Duster car at Patel Chowk and asked the driver Harshit to stop. However, the trio did not stop as Shanky had a rivalry with some other people and they thought that goons had been sent to kill them.

When the three boys did not stop, the accused opened fire at the car and a bullet hit Aryan, who was sitting in the passenger seat, near the neck. When the vehicle stopped, the accused shot Aryan again, fearing that his friends might shoot back.

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However, when the defendants saw the two women in the car, they felt they had shot the wrong person and fled.

The victim was taken to hospital where he died a day later.

The accused were arrested by the police and the weapons they used were illegal, the report said. Further investigations into the incident are ongoing.