On August 23, Aryan Mishra, a Class 12 student, was returning home with four others in a Duster SUV in Faridabad, Haryana, after having snacks. On an isolated stretch near Gadpuri on the Delhi-Agra National Highway, a group of vigilantes flagged down their vehicle. The vigilantes were patrolling the area based on a “tip-off” about suspected cow smugglers in SUVs. When the driver of the Duster refused to stop, the vigilantes pursued them, resulting in a high-speed chase that lasted around 50 kilometers. The chase ended with the vigilantes fatally shooting Mishra.
Police have arrested four individuals—Anil Kaushik, Varun Kumar, Krishan Singh, and Adesh Singh—who are allegedly linked to a “cow protection group,” in connection with the murder. “They [the vigilantes] saw the Duster SUV on the isolated stretch and began chasing it after signaling to the driver [Harshit Singh] to stop,” said Assistant Police Commissioner (Crime) Aman Yadav.
According to Yadav, Harshit Singh, who was driving, was involved in an ongoing feud and was accompanied by another person named Sanki. They misunderstood the situation. Sanki had been charged with attempted murder on August 14. “Harshit feared they were being pursued due to the feud, while Sanki believed they were plainclothes police officers trying to arrest him. This caused Harshit Singh to speed up, initiating the chase,” Yadav explained.
Yadav also confirmed that the weapon and the vehicle used in the murder have been recovered. “The incident occurred when the suspects allegedly mistook Mishra and his companions for cattle smugglers, leading to a high-speed chase on the highway during which they opened fire on the vehicle.”
The suspects were identified from CCTV footage taken at the Gadpuri toll plaza, which captured them chasing Mishra’s car. Police said a preliminary investigation revealed that the suspects had received information from an informant about cattle smugglers driving Duster and Fortuner vehicles in the area, allegedly transporting animals using containers. The suspects then started searching for the vehicles, spotted the Duster at Patel Chowk, and tried to stop it.
Mishra’s murder occurred just days before another violent incident in Haryana, where seven individuals, including two juveniles, beat a migrant worker from West Bengal to death in Charkhi Dadri’s Badhra over suspicions that he had eaten beef.
