The Jamia shooter who is now in police custody had been identified as one Gulshan Sharma (name changed), a resident of Jewar in Greater Noida.
Delhi Police investigating the case have refuted the allegations of police inaction when a man opened fire at protestors near Jamia Millia University today. DCP Chinmay Biswal, speaking to the media said that police were deployed at the usual areas in and around the university and the protestors were asked not to take out this march. Irrespective of being denied permission the protestors went ahead with the march. He also confirms that the shooter came from within the crowd of protestors and wielded the gun.
‘Wrong allegations being put on @DelhiPolice.’ DCP Chinmay Biswal on police’s inaction when a man opened fire at protestors in #JamiaUniversity @TheQuint pic.twitter.com/xw1UyHLSuc
— Garvita Khybri (@GarvitaKhybri) January 30, 2020
Commenting on today’s incident the DCP said that the organisers should keep a track of what kind of people join a protest. DCP said that Delhi police have time and again publically appealed to the organisers, not only in Jamia area but also in Shaheen Bagh, to be vigilant. He says that these protests are being hijacked by various antisocials who are creating havoc.
‘The organisers should keep a track of what kind of people join a protest’: DCP Chinmay Biswal on how a man shot at a Jamia student. @TheQuint #jamiaprotests pic.twitter.com/srIFsvIMOu
— Garvita Khybri (@GarvitaKhybri) January 30, 2020
Moments before the shooting, the alleged shooter had gone live on his Facebook page, which goes by the name ‘Rambhakt Gulshan’.
According to Times of India’s Raj Shekhar Jha, Delhi police have said that Ram Bhakt is not mentioned as the name in his document. His family has been contacted to verify. Moreover, police are also verifying his age before placing him under arrest as Gulshan has claimed that he is a juvenile.
Also, cops say Ram Bhakt is not mentioned as name in his document. His family has been contacted to verify. https://t.co/DlbErbLcoK
— Raj Shekhar Jha (@rajshekharTOI) January 30, 2020
A man, identified as Gulshan opened fire outside the Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi during the ongoing protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. He has now been taken into police custody and one individual has been injured. The injured man has been taken to the hospital for treatment. In a video that has surfaced depicting the scene of events, the man can be seen brandishing a gun and raising slogans that are not entirely audible.
In his Facebook post, Gulshan declared that this was an act of revenge for Chandan Gupta, the 16-year-old Hindu boy who was shot at and murdered, by one Salim, following a Tiranga yatra by the ABVP, where people from a particular community had pelted stones which led to clashes in Uttar Pradesh’s Kasganj in 2018.
It’s not yet clear if he was indeed acting on his own or has been paid by the leftist groups, as many suggest, but if we go by the Facebook posts and consider them not paid, this is how it appears.
The injured individual is a student of Jamia Millia Islamia and he was injured on his left wrist and the injury is believed to be not fatal.
While the details are unclear on why the man was openly wielding the gun, people on Twitter have been speculating that it may be staged to get back some legitimacy to the protests after Shaheen Bagh mastermind Sharjeel Imam was arrested.
Protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act have been extremely unruly and law and order have often been flouted by the protesters. Recently, a gun was brandished by one individual at the Shaheen Bagh protests. After the media initially tried to pin the blame on the BJP, it was discovered later on that the gun belonged to one Mohammad Luqman with links to the Aam Aadmi Party. It still remains to be seen who Gulshan is and whether he is associated with any political organization.
Update: It has been revealed that the suspect of Jamia shooting may be a minor. In accordance with relevant laws, his name has been changed after this revelation came to light.
