AAP, Delhi police squabble over identity of Shaheen shooter
Double punishment if he’s member of AAP, says CM; gunman’s father seen denying party link
NEWDELHI: A day after Delhi Police said that the Shaheen Bagh gunman, 23-year-old Kapil Gujjar, joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) last year along with his father, Choudhary Gaje Singh, two videos surfaced on social media in which Singh appeared to deny his association with the party, even as a tussle over the shooter’s identity continued.
One of the videos showed Singh purportedly saying that his son is a “supporter” and “sevak” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the other, the shooter’s father and brother were seen saying he had no link with the AAP.
Hindustan Times could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos.
The police said on Wednesday that they could not comment on the video until they spoke to Singh and Gujjar. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not respond to requests for seeking comments.
AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal said at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon that if the gunman was found to be from his party, he should be given “double the punishment”, adding that there should be no compromise on national security.
“I am not aware of his (shooter’s) ties with any party. But if he is even remotely related to AAP, he deserves the maximum punishment for wwhat he has done. I want to request home minister to stop playing politics on the security of the nation and urge him to not compromise with national security,” Kejriwal said.
Later in the day, he re-tweeted one of the videos. In it, Gujjar’s father is seen claiming that he and his sons never took AAP membership or have any association with any political party.
“…my son (Gujjar) is into dairy business with me and has nothing to do with politics. I have never shared stage with AAP (leaders) or have ever done campaigning for the party,” Singh said in the video. He is also seen saying that his son was annoyed because of the road blockade at Shaheen Bagh, where protesters have been protesting since the last 52 days against the new citizenship law and the possibility of a pan-India National Register of Citizens.
On Wednesday evening, HT went to Gujjar’s home for a response from Gujjar family on the police’s allegations. While the father and Gujjar’s brother, Sachin, were not present at the house, their family members refused to comment.
In response to the two videos, which differs from the police’s contention on Tuesday that the family was associated with the AAP, a senior Delhi police officer said that the shooter’s fathe and brother were absconding.
“We can only comment if they appear before us. They were served two summons but they are yet to respond. We have already taken Gujjar’s statement in which he has confirmed that he is a member of the AAP. The photographs of the day when he had joined the party was also recovered from his phone,” the officer said, requesting anonymity.
Police said they need to question the two to find out who deleted Gujjar’s WhatsApp account, videos, and images from his cellphone. The pictures in which Gujjar and his father were seen with the AAP members were allegedly deleted from the phone and were retrieved by forensic teams after the police had seized them. They would also be questioned regarding Gujjar’s disclosure that he had kept the country made pistol, which he used in the firing, at home for the past seven years, a second officer said.