Is it time to accept that 'gau rakshaks' are mere goons with a 'license' to kill?

what happened that night

The incident took place on August 24 at around 1:30 am, when Harshit, his brother Shanky, their mother and a neighbour had gone to a nearby mall to eat noodles. Aryan had also accompanied them. “They ate noodles at a stall near the mall and were returning home in their Duster car at around 2:20 am. On the way, a Swift car started following their Duster and honked repeatedly,” said an official from the NIT police station. Shanky, whose official name is Sagar Gulati, is an accused in an attempt to murder case. He thought he was being followed by policemen in plain clothes or members of the family he had attacked.

Aryan was shot after being chased for 30 km

“He asked his brother Harshit to drive faster. As the Duster picked up speed, the Swift driver too continued to follow it,” the police officer said. Both the cars took the Delhi-Agra highway and the chase continued for around 30 km. Meanwhile, shots were fired from the chasing car. One bullet hit Aryan in the head and Harshit stopped the car near the Gadhpuri toll plaza. The occupants of the car got out and walked up to the window where Aryan was seated. They fired at him again, this time from a very close distance and that too directly on the neck.

12th class student Aryan Mishra was murdered on suspicion of cow smuggling, what happened from the night of the murder till now? Know everything

When the attackers realized their mistake

The police officer said, 'The attackers looked at Aryan closely after firing the shot and then fled from the spot. Perhaps they realized their mistake. Also, there were women sitting in the back of the car.' Aryan was immediately taken to SSB Hospital in Faridabad, but he died on August 24. Aryan, the youngest son of the family, had quit studies after 11th to help run the house. He had enrolled in 12th from an open school. He was also working at a mobile shop in Ghaziabad. His elder brother Ajay told that Aryan was also trying to make a career in digital marketing. He had started helping a friend in making social media videos.

The family is just demanding justice

Ajay told the Times of India that his younger brother Aryan had become a 'hardcore Hindu' and had gone on the Kanwar Yatra this year. “The saffron flag you see outside our house was put up by Aryan. He had returned from the Kanwar Yatra last month and had blisters on his feet. A pandit had told him to feed the cows regularly, so he used to do it despite his busy schedule,” Ajay said. His father Siyanand Mishra had initially filed a complaint thinking that the attack was an attempt to kill his landlord's son Shanky. This is because he was also in the car at the time and has several cases registered against him.

Cow smugglers had committed the crime, this is how it was revealed

However, their involvement was ruled out after searches of the houses of the two suspects and several rounds of questioning. ACP (Crime) Aman Yadav said they arrested Anil Kaushik, a resident of Faridabad, and his accomplices Varun, Krishan, Adesh and Saurabh after identifying them from CCTV footage. “It was Anil Kaushik who fired a total of four rounds at the youth. During interrogation, the five accused claimed that they were moving around in their Swift car when they suspected that the Duster rider was involved in some criminal activity. So, they followed him and opened fire on him. There was no prior animosity between them,” the ACP said.

'If action is not taken against the culprits, we will give up our lives'

Siyanand Mishra said that if action is not taken against the culprits within two months, he and his wife are ready to give up their lives. The boy's father met the main accused Anil Kaushik for some time. Siyanand Mishra said, 'Anil was standing in front of me with folded hands. He said that you are a Brahmin, I am also a Brahmin. He said that he has made a big mistake. He told me that he had followed Aryan's car, thinking that he was a cow smuggler.'

Who is Anil Kaushik, who is accused of murder?

Prime accused Anil Kaushik has been an active 'gau rakshak' on highways around Delhi and Gurgaon. He is a member of the official Gau Raksha task force in Faridabad. Puran Yadav, vice-chairman of the Haryana Gau Seva Aayog, confirmed that Kaushik has been a member of the Faridabad Gau Raksha task force for a year. “He has the authority to give information about cow slaughter and smuggling to the police,” Puran Yadav said. What happened late night on August 24: Kaushik and four other gau rakshaks did what they usually do when they chased the Duster in which Aryan and others were travelling. The chase is believed to have been based on clues that the car contained beef. According to sources associated with the investigation and the Haryana Gau Seva Aayog, Kaushik may have acted on misinformation, which they claim was spread by rivals of one of Aryan's associates.

Murder in the name of cow protection due to misinformation!

The police say that the role of cow protectors and the task force is limited to providing information. Maintaining law and order is beyond their jurisdiction. However, FIRs lodged in several police stations show that Kaushik was actively involved in chasing and stopping suspicious vehicles. The police had initially claimed that Kaushik had no criminal history, but it emerged that two cases were registered against the cow protector. One for snatching a mobile phone and the other for extortion. Despite this, 37-year-old Kaushik could not be stopped from becoming a member of the district cow protector task force.

Is the background of cow protectors not checked?

When asked about the background check of non-official members, a senior member of the commission said police verification is mandatory before appointment. If it was a heinous case, I think they would have flagged it. If it is not a serious allegation, the principle of presuming innocent until proven guilty applies, the member said. Police said Kaushik also has a license for the weapon, but the gun was deposited in the armoury after the announcement of elections in the state on August 16. On the night of the incident, Kaushik had a country-made pistol with which he allegedly shot Aryan.

Aryan's murder is not an isolated case…!

Kaushik’s arrest also revealed his influence in the area in the matter of cow protection. Based on Kaushik’s complaints, cases have been registered in at least two police stations in Faridabad since May under the state’s cow protection law (Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act). In the complaints, Kaushik has been identified as a member of the Special Gau Raksha Bal of the Haryana Gau Seva Aayog. On May 30, Arif – who was injured after the beating – was arrested at the Mujesar police station. In the case registered against him, Kaushik’s complaint reads, “I am a member of the Special Gau Raksha Bal (Haryana Gau Seva Aayog) and a permanent member of the Live For Nation organisation. We had received information from a friend Adesh Kumar that Arif and Mahipal were taking cows from Sarurpur to Madalpur for slaughter. We stopped them on the Sarurpur-Madalpur road and rescued a cow. We caught Arif who was walking with the cow, but Mahipal who was following him on a bike abandoned his bike and fled from the spot. Despite all our efforts, the local people beat up Arif.

Questions kept being raised on cow protectors

Just two days before Aryan’s murder, Kaushik had lodged a complaint registering his inability to prevent an incident of cow smuggling in the wee hours of August 22. “I also received a video related to the incident and reached the spot with my team. But before we could reach there, three to four accused managed to flee with two-three cows loaded in their pick-up van. I tried my best to trace them but failed. Please take appropriate legal action,” Kaushik wrote in his complaint. In December last year, an FIR filed by a police officer cited Kaushik as a member of the public who had agreed to become a witness. “Along with the raiding team and government witness Anil Kaushik, we set up a blockade and saw five people bringing two cows from Shyam Nagar Phase-2 Saroorpur side. On seeing us, the accused abandoned the cows and fled from the spot,” the FIR states.

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The continuous incidents are a matter of concern

Aryan’s murder bears resemblance to cases reported earlier in the state. On August 28, a 24-year-old man from West Bengal was beaten to death in Haryana’s Charkhi Dadri district on suspicion of eating beef. Five men associated with the gau rakshak group were arrested. Other gau rakshaks like Monu Manesar have also been charged with chasing and stopping suspected cow smugglers. Manesar was arrested in February 2023 for his alleged role in the killing of two men from Bharatpur in Rajasthan. In February, another resident of Nuh, Waris Khan, died of injuries sustained in an accident when he was allegedly chased by gau rakshaks.

'Be it Hindu or Muslim, all are equal… Are Muslims not humans?'

Although Haryana's cow protection law applies to these groups, an analysis of cases registered under the law in 2023 showed that such accused are acquitted in most cases due to lack of evidence. In 2017, the Supreme Court had cautioned states not to give free hand to cow protectors. After Aryan's murder, his father Siya Nand had also raised the question as to why such groups should be allowed to operate openly. He said that if cow protectors come to know about smuggling, they should inform the police. They cannot kill anyone. These cow protectors have formed private groups. If tomorrow they have enmity with someone, does it mean that they can shoot anyone in the name of cow protection. Then can they claim that the person was carrying a cow? He said, 'Hindu or Muslim, all are equal. Are Muslims not humans?'