Days after central minister led hateful chants calling for violence, a man identifying himself as Rambhakt Gopal opens fire on anti-CAA protesters at university, injuring one student
(Left) The shooter, who identified himself as Rambhakt Gopal, injured Jamia student Shadab Farooq (inset). Pics/Twitter/ PTI
New Delhi: A 25-year-old student from Jamia Millia Islamia was injured when a man, who identifies himself as Rambhakt Gopal, opened fire at a group of protesters on Thursday. He shouted "ye lo azadi" after shooting at the demonstrators and walked away waving the pistol above his head. The police personnel, who stood mute spectators the entire time, nabbed him only after he had shot at the students holding a peaceful rally against Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
ADVERTISEMENT
The incident happened amid heavy police presence. The Delhi police detained him only after he had injured Shadab Farooq, a mass communication student of Jamia. Farooq was hurt in his left hand and was taken to AIIMS Trauma Centre.
According to the shooter's Aadhaar card and board exam mark sheet record, he was born on April 8, 2002, ANI reported. The Delhi police have officially not confirmed his age. Police said they were verifying whether Rambhakt Gopal is his real name.
Rambhakt Gopal shoots at students as the cops look on
The gunman went live on Facebook before the brandishing the gun. Before the attack, the man also put out messages on Facebook stating "Shaheen Bhag... Khel Khatam" (Run Shaheen, the game is over). Another message read: "Please wrap me in saffron in my last journey with slogans of Jai Shri Ram". His Facebook profile was deleted after screenshots of his posts were circulated widely on social media platforms.
Several students recapped how their peaceful march against Citizenship (Amendment) Act on Gandhi's death anniversary became violent. "We were moving towards the Holy Family Hospital where the police had raised barricades. Suddenly, a gun-wielding man came out and opened fire. One bullet hit my friend's hand," said Aamna Asif, a student. The students were heading from Jamia to Mahatma Gandhi's memorial Rajghat. The march was stopped at the Holy Family Hospital near the university.
"By the time police could react, the person had already fired the shot. Everything happened in seconds. The probe is on. The case has been transferred to the Crime Branch. We are also probing whether he is a juvenile or not," Special Commissioner of Police (Intelligence) Praveer Ranjan.
Shadab Farooq, the Jamia student who was shot in the hand
'Result of hate speech'
CPI general secretary D Raja said the incident was a "direct result" of provocative speeches made by BJP leaders while campaigning for the Delhi Assembly polls. He said it was unfortunate that such an incident had happened on the death anniversary of Gandhi.
Take care of law & order: Kejri to Shah
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday asked Home Minister Amit Shah to take care of the "deteriorating" law and order situation in Delhi. "What is happening in Delhi? The law and order is deteriorating. Please take care of Delhi's law and order," Kejriwal said in a reply to a tweet by Shah. Shah had tweeted earlier, saying he has directed Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik to take strictest action. He added that the Centre will not tolerate such incidents and the guilty will not be spared.
Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
