Reports have emerged that the Delhi anti-Hindu riot shooter Mohammad Shahrukh who had been arrested on March 3 for firing 8 bullets at a policeman during the Delhi violence is suspected to be linked to a notorious Chhenu gang which is active in Northeast Delhi and parts of Uttar Pradesh.
The Delhi police have established that the Islamist shooter was in constant touch with the members of the Chenu gang, however, they are not yet sure whether he was an active member of the gang or not.
The semi-automatic 7.65-bore pistol used by Shahrukh was made in Bihar and was procured by him about two years ago.
The Delhi police officials investigating the case are now probing whether Shahrukh was responsible for arranging weapons for other rioters as well and whether he was involved in instigating the Islamist mobs which ran amok, engaging in arson, stone-pelting, vandalism recently in the national capital.
Sources informed the news agency IANS that Shahrukh was given shelter in Bareilly by one of the friends of his father who is also allegedly a drug supplier.
Investigations into the case have reportedly revealed that Shahrukh’s father, Shawar Pathan, who came to Delhi in 1985, is also a criminal and has several cases registered against him on charges of drug peddling and smuggling fake currency notes. He had, in fact, been released on bail just three days ahead of Shahrukh’s shooting incident during the anti-Hindu riots in Delhi’s Maujpur area in broad daylight on 24 February.
The father was reportedly born as a Sikh who had later converted to Islam for marrying a Muslim woman. According to reports, Shahrukh’s mother also is said to be a notorious drug peddler.
On the day of US President Donald Trump’s visit to India, the national capital had witnessed unprecedented violence. A Delhi police constable has lost his life in the riots that have ensued in the national capital in wake of the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Another DCP has been injured during clashes in Delhi’s Gokulpuri. An IB official, Ankit Sharma, was brutally murdered and his dead body was thrown in a drain. Amidst the riots, a video of a man opening fire at the police, and one policeman bravely standing in his way emerged. The shooter, identified as Shahrukh, has now been arrested.
