A youth, who opened fire at anti-CAA protesters near the Jamia Millia Islami University on Thursday, has been booked under the Arms Act and a case of attempt to murder has been lodged against the youth.
The case has been registered on the basis of the statement of the injured Jamia student Shadab who sustained a bullet injury on his arm after the shooter opened fire at the gathering.
Advertisement
The 17-year-old, a class 11 student from Uttar Pradesh, had reportedly bought the countrymade pistol a few days ago and had been planning to attack a protest against the citizenship law.
According to an NDTV report, the youth identified as Rambhakt Gopal Sharma, left his house in Jewar claiming he was going to school as usual. But he took a bus to Delhi instead.
As per witnesses, the teen was seen raising religious slogans before he opened fire with a countrymade pistol at the anti-CAA rally.
Clad in a black jacket and a pair of white trousers, the youth was caught in a video waving a gun at the protesters as he shouts “Yeh lo azadi (here’s your freedom)”.
“He was shouting ‘deta hu tumhe azadi’ (‘I will give you freedom’) and opposed our march. He later shouted ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and opened fire,” a protestor was quoted as saying by IANS.
When Gopal, the assailant, brandished the gun and threatened to shoot at students, barely 10 metres away was standing Jamia SHO Upendra Singh along with dozens of police personnel. But they did nothing to prevent the firing, despite the students shouting hoarse for the police help.
Only when the accused fired his pistol, the police got into action.
Meanwhile, Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik has handed over the investigation of the case to a special team of the Crime Branch.
The Crime Branch will produce the accused before the Juvenile Justice Board later today.
According to police sources quoted by ANI, the accused has not expressed any regret over his action and so far, he has denied being affiliated to any organization.
The youth reportedly got radicalized after watching videos on social media. He wanted to take revenge for the death of Chandan Gupta, who was killed during Kasganj violence in 2018.
