Man fires at anti-caa protesters in Delhi
‘I’m giving freedom’: The man posted on Facebook , minutes before opening fire
Thousands of people and police personnel faced off against each other near the Jamia Millia Islamia University on Thursday after a man fired a pistol at a group of anti- CAA protesters, injuring a student before walking away while waving the firearm over his head.
Minutes before firing, the man made a number of posts on Facebook saying ‘ azaadi de raha hun (I am giving freedom)’, ‘ Shaheen bhag khel khatm (Run Shaheen, the game is over)’ and ‘ mere ghar ka khayal rakhna (take care of my home)’.
While a Facebook profile named him Rambhakt Gopal, police officials said they were yet to as cer tain whether it was his real name. The man went live on Facebook five times from the protest site. The profile was deleted after screenshots of the posts went viral.
The entire drama was captured by television cameras. Behind the man, a group of policemen could be seen in the frame. "By the time police could react, the person had already fired. Ever ything happened in seconds. The investigation is on and the case has been transferred to the Crime Branch," said Special CP Intelligence Praveer Ranjan.
His shot injured Shahdab Farooq, a Jamia Milia Islamia student, before the gunman was overpowered by police and taken into custody. Najma Akhtar, the vice-chancellor, said: “Cops just watched as man the brandished pistol and shot our student, incident has shook our faith in police.” She said the university would pay for the treatment of the injured.
A Facebook spokesperson said there was no place on the site for those who commit this kind of violence. “We have removed the gunman’s account and are removing any content that praises, supports, or represents the gunman or the shooting as soon as we identify it.”
As tension spiralled in the area, Home Minister Amit Shah said on Twitter that he had spoken to the Delhi police commissioner to take strictest possible action.
The home minister also said the Central government will not tolerate such incidents and the guilty will not be spared.
As night fell, scores of people gathered outside the Delhi Police Headquarters at ITO condemning the attack.