19-year-old student from Faridabad is mistaken for cow smuggler, chased and shot by vigilantes; 5 people arrested | News from Gurgaon

GURGAON: Five Cow vigilante group was arrested last week from the Faridabad Criminal Investigation Department Faridabad for the deadly Shoot in which a 20-year-old student was killed, Aryan Mishravicinity Gadpuri toll plaza on NH-19 in Palwal district.
The accused mistook the victim for a cow smuggler and opened fire on the car he was travelling in. Aryan succumbed to his gunshot wounds on August 24.
According to ACP Crime Aman Yadav, the accused are Anil Kaushik, Varun, Krishna, Adesh and Saurabh from Faridabad.
“Anil Kaushik runs a cow protection group and the other accused are his accomplices. The accused are currently in judicial custody,” the ACP said.
On the night of August 23, Anil and his colleagues received information that cows were being smuggled in a Duster vehicle. Anil's team started searching for the vehicle and spotted the Duster SUV at 1:30 am on August 24 in Sector 21C in Faridabad and started following it.
When the accused tried to intercept the SUV at Sector 21C, Harshit, a youth from NIT 5 in Faridabad who was driving it, and his brother Shanky thought that plainclothes policemen were after them to arrest Shanky. Harshit Gulati, Shanky alias Sagar Gulati, their mother Sujata Gulati, neighbour Kriti Sharma and their tenant Aryan Mishra, 20, who was studying Class 12 in a government school, were in the Duster vehicle when the incident happened.
They were on their way home after eating noodles at a food stall near Vardhman Mall in Faridabad.
“Shanky is an accused in a criminal case in Faridabad and thought the police wanted to arrest him. On Shanky's instructions, Harshit drove off at high speed and the accused followed them,” said a CID official.
Harshit drove the vehicle onto the Delhi-Agra highway towards Palwal. He suspected that Cattle smugglers tried to flee, the accused started firing at the car. At Baghola village, behind the Gadpuri toll plaza on the highway, a bullet hit Aryan, who was sitting in the front seat next to Harshit.
Harshit immediately stopped the car. At around 3:05 am, the accused got out of their car and fired another shot at Aryan at close range, fearing that the cattle smugglers would retaliate.
“Aryan sustained bullet injuries on his head and neck. After firing from a short distance, the accused peeked into the car and realised their mistake as there were women sitting in the back seat. They fled the scene,” said a police officer from NIT PS.
Aryan succumbed to his injuries on the afternoon of August 24 while undergoing treatment at the SSB Hospital.
Based on the complaint of his father Siyanand Mishra, a case was registered in the NIT PS on August 24 under sections 103 (1) (murder), 190 (unlawful assembly), 191 (3) (rioting with deadly weapons) of the BNS and section 25 of the Arms Act.
Initially, family members of Harshit and Shanky made allegations against a group of men from their neighbourhood. When the police raided their houses, all the suspects were at home and the cops soon realised that they were not involved in the crime.
The police then reviewed CCTV footage from various locations and identified the Swift car used by the accused.
Four of the culprits, including Anil, were arrested on Thursday and the fifth accused, Saurabh, was nabbed on Friday. After remand, all the accused were produced before the court and remanded in judicial custody on Friday. “The accused had opened fire on the car in which Aryan was travelling, suspecting that the vehicle belonged to cattle smugglers. Aryan succumbed to his bullet injuries,” the ACP said.