Grand welcome at home for man who pointed gun at cop
NEW DELHI: Shahrukh Pathan, the man caught on camera pointing a pistol at a Delhi Police constable during the 2020 riots received a grand welcome when he returned home on a brief parole to meet his parents at their residence in north-east Delhi’s New Usmanpur area on May 23. Videos of the welcome have been widely shared online, said senior police officers in the know of the matter.
Pathan, who is facing charges of rioting, unlawful assembly, obstructing a public servant from performing duty, assault, and attempt to murder, among other sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), was granted parole to meet his ailing father for four hours on May 23 on the condition that he’ll only meet his parents and no one else. In its bail order, the court said it was taking a “humanitarian approach” in the matter.
His counsel said Pathan was granted parole to meet his 65-yearold father at GB Pant Hospital after his coronary angiography on May 22, but he could not do so due to his father’s ill health. So the court granted four-hour custody parole on May 23 so he could meet his parents at home, the lawyer said.
A senior police officer on the condition of anonymity said, “District police officials and those deployed in the third battalion took him to his home. People gathered around when he arrived — a common practice in densely populated areas like New Usmanpur.”
In videos, Pathan, flanked by police personnel, can be seen walking through a crowd of people who seemed to cheer him on. He can also purportedly be seen waving at the crowd.
Pathan’s lawyer Khalid Akhtar, however, clarified that Pathan wasn’t waving. “My colleague, who was walking next to Pathan, asked him to get people to stop taking videos and he was trying to do that with hand gestures. He was not waving at all,” the lawyer said.
Akhtar said they tried to keep the meeting between Pathan and his family discreet but once the police van reached his residence, word spread about Pathan’s return and hundreds gathered around by the time he was ready to leave home.
“Pathan is a high-security prisoner, and therefore, several officers accompanied him. Hundreds gathered near his house just as he was leaving and walked with him till the police van,” Akhtar said.
Shahana Begum, Pathan’s mother, said people had gathered to meet him because he is loved by all — both Hindus and Muslims. “No matter that the media calls him a rioter, but for locals here, he is their own child,” she said.