Jamia firing: Accused considered anti-CAA protests to be anti-national activities

New Delhi: Anger had been building up inside the youth who fired on anti-CAA protesters in Jamia Nagar as he used to watch videos and read content on social media about the killing of two men belonging to right-wing outfits in Uttar Pradesh, a police official said on Friday.

He also used to read reports of protests against the amended law and considered these protests to be “anti-national activities”, the official said.

On Thursday, the accused fired a pistol at a group of anti-CAA protesters, injuring Jamia student Shadab Farooq, before walking away while waving the firearm above his head and shouting “Yeh lo aazadi” amid heavy police presence. He was apprehended from the spot and taken into police custody.

During interrogation, it was revealed that he boarded a bus from his hometown in UP’s Jewar and took an auto to the protest site at Jamia after reaching Delhi. He had planned to go to Shaheen Bagh from there. He carried a countrymade pistol in his bag and went live on Facebook five times from the protest site and the cover picture of his profile showed him brandishing a sword, a police official said.

He was angry with the protests happening at Jamia and Shaheen Bagh and considered them “anti-national activities” and believed that such protests caused inconvenience, the official said.

In his Facebook profile which has now been deleted, he mentioned that he was taking revenge for “Chandan Bhai”, apparently referring to a Chandan Gupta who died after being shot at a motorcycle rally taken out to celebrate Republic Day in 2018 in Uttar Pradesh’s Kasganj area.

The shooter was also angry with the killing of Hindu Samaj Party leader Kamlesh Tiwari. Tiwari was killed at his house in Lucknow on October 18, 2019, allegedly because of certain provocative statements he had made in the past, the officer said.

On Friday afternoon, the accused was presented before the Juvenile Justice Board and sent to 14-day protective custody, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rajesh Deo said.

The police said they have urged the board to form a medical panel to conduct a bone ossification test to verify his age.

Another official, who did not wish to be identified said, “The accused will be given counselling on regular basis to ascertain the circumstances under which he committed the act and if he is suffering from any kind of mental illness or if he was manipulated or influenced by someone which led him to commit the offence.”

The counselling by psychiatrists will also help to understand if he is addicted to any drugs. Since he is a student, textbooks will also be given to him and in case he requires a tuition facility, the same will be offered, he said.

Special attention will be given to the accused at the juvenile home, the official added.