Man opens fire, overpowered, held; none hurt
Two days after a teenager opened fire at anti-Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) protesters at Jamia injuring a Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) student, another firing incident was reported from Shaheen Bagh where protest against CAA is going on for 47 days. A 20-year-old man fired two aerial shots from a country-made pistol at nearly 100 metres behind the stage at Shaheen Bagh protest site on Saturday at 4.53 pm.
The gunman was nabbed by protesters on the spot and handed over to police, said an eyewitness. However, police claimed the man was overpowered by police.
“The accused fired in air near police barricades. He was overpowered by police personnel and taken into custody. Further investigation is on,” said Chinmoy Biswal, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (southeast).
Even while the man was in the grip of police, he was heard chanting Jai Shri Ram and was also shouting “Hamare desh mein kisi ki nahi chalegi, sirf Hinduon ki chalegi.”
The accused has been identified as Kapil Baisla, a resident of East Delhi’s Dallupura village, and he is a milk supplier, said sources. However, police are yet to ascertain his identity.
Mirza Azhan Beg (25), a local resident who was standing in front of the accused, said the accused started raising slogans Jai Shree Ram, Desh ke gaddaro ko goli maro salon ko. Yaha bas Hinduon ka raj chalega.
“Police were standing a few metres away when the accused fired. Police overpowered him. He has thrown his weapon, suspected to be a country made pistol, in the bushes,” said Beg.
One of the women protestors, who didn’t wish to be named, said they were inside the tent when the incident happened. “We rushed to the spot after hearing gunshots. Many women and children were there inside the tent when incident happened. Everyone is scared about their safety,” she said.
Another woman protestor said that those who are against their protest are trying to scare them but the protestors will not step back. “The outsiders are trying to derail this movement but we will not let this happen,” she said.
A police official said that the man is not associated with any political outfit and he was angry at the ongoing protest and wanted to scare the protestors.
Reacting to the incident, AAP leader Sanjay Singh said they had already warned the Election Commission that a conspiracy is being hatched by the BJP to postpone the polls.
“There is no law and order in the country. The gun-toting men are making Delhi their bastion (adda).We have been seeking time from the Election Commission since yesterday so that we can make them aware of these developments but they have not given us any time,” he said.
In a veiled attack on the BJP over the incident, the Congress said the shooter has changed but the ideology pulling the trigger in 1948 or 2020 has remained the same.
Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill tweeted, “Shooter changes but ideology pulling the trigger either in 1948 (Nathuram Godse) or 2020 remains the same ‘Goli Maro’ -- Hands which should be pulling India’s growth are now firing guns.”
“Instead of ‘Make in India’ focus is on ‘spreading hate in India’”, he alleged.
However, senior BJP leader B L Santhosh insinuated involvement of party’s rivals in the recent shooting incidents, saying the “great drama party of Delhi is becoming too costly for the country”.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during a poll rally in Delhi’s northwest Rohini area alleged that those who support terrorists in Kashmir are staging protest at Shaheen Bagh.
Hitting out at the AAP dispensation, Adityanath said that the Arvind Kejriwal Government “supplies biryani” to protesters at Shaheen Bagh.
This is the second incident in Delhi at an anti-CAA protest which has taken place just two km away from Jamia Millia Islamia where on Thursday a 17-year-old Class 12 boy from Uttar Pradesh fired a crude pistol at unarmed protesters with dozens of policemen behind him.
The teenager, who left home claiming he was going to school, took a bus to Delhi intending to target Shaheen Bagh but landed at Jamia next-door after an auto-driver dropped him off there to avoid the traffic chaos.
The Shaheen Bagh protest has attracted attention from across the country in the protests against the CAA and NRC.
On Monday, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur while addressing an election rally had raised the slogan of ‘desh ke gaddaron ko’ (traitors in the country) as the crowd responded with ‘goli maaron sa***n ko’.
The next day, BJP MP Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma said protesters at Shaheen Bagh could “enter homes and rape our sisters and daughters”.
The Election commission asked the BJP to remove both Thakur and Verma from the list of star campaigners.
It also barred Thakur from campaigning for three days and Verma for four days for their controversial remarks.