Two men from Haryana held for ‘attack’ on Umar Khalid
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police on Monday arrested two men from Haryana’s Fatehabad in connection with the alleged attack on Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) PhD scholar Umar Khalid outside the Constitution Club in central Delhi on August 13.
The men had purportedly released a video on social media last week, taking responsibility for the alleged attack, police said.
Deputy commissioner of police (counter intelligence, special cell) Manishi Chandra said the men, Darwesh Shahpur and Naveen Dalal from Haryana, have admitted to the crime but claimed that their intention was not to “kill” Khalid but only to “assault” him.
“Darwesh had seen Khalid’s Facebook update about the event. He informed Naveen and the two decided to disrupt the event by raising nationalistic slogans,” said DCP Chandra.
The DCP said it was Naveen who pounced on Khalid. When Khalid’s friends tried to overpower Naveen, Darwesh panfled. Naveen managed to flee the scene but a pistol he was carrying fell on the road, the police officer said.
During their interrogation, the police said the two men admitted that they were carrying the pistol but claimed that it was for “self defence”. The two had arranged the weapon from an associate, who the police are now looking for. “Naveen claims that he did not fire a bullet. But we will go by the version of the complainant (Khalid) that he and his friends had heard a gunshot,” the DCP said. Khalid was allegedly attacked on August 13 outside the Constitution Club where he had gone to attend an event, with some eyewitnesses claiming that they had heard a gunshot.
On the arrests, Khalid said, “My hunch says that it is not only these two men but there is a bigger conspiracy hatched against me. Police should also investigate the political forces who wanted to eliminate me.” “The men enquired about the timing of the event from a guard posted outside. They were waiting outside the club when they spotted Khalid. The two claimed that they changed their plan to disrupt the event and decided to assault Khalid instead,” the DCP said.