The man who fired at the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protesters near Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi on Thursday afternoon, was on Facebook Live minutes before he opened fire.
A student from Jamia was injured when the attacker opened fire at a group of protesters and shouted "Yeh lo azadi", eye-witnesses said. He was overpowered by protesters, and was detained, police said.
The Facebook Live shows him at the venue of the protest. He did not say anything in the video, and was seen looking around. It is unclear whether he was part of a group or was he acting alone. Somebody is heard saying things like, “Bas bas....yahin se dekh lo... dekh liya? (enough... watch it from here... saw it?)” and “... jaan de denge (we will give up our lives)”, though the context cannot be ascertained.
The Facebook profile has since been deactivated.
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He also did three Facebook Live sessions before this, where he is seen walking in and around the protest venue.
The entire drama, which triggered panic in the area, was captured on camera, and it showed the man in light coloured pants and a black jacket, walking away on an empty road barricaded by police, turning around and shouting at the protesters.
"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," Aamna Asif, a student of economics at the university, told PTI.
She said her friend, Shadab Farooq, a mass communication student, was injured in his left hand and taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre.
Al-Ameen, another student, said the man was brandishing his pistol and shouted "Yeh lo azadi (Here, take your freedom)".
His Facebook bio says, "****** naam hain hamara, BIO main itna hi kaafi hain, baaki sahi samay aane par... Jai Shri Ram (****** is my name, that's enough as my BIO, the rest, when the right time comes, Jai Shri Ram)". In his profile photo, he is seen kissing a sword.
In other posts on Facebook hours before the incident, he had said “game over, Shaheen Bagh” and "wrap me in saffron on my last journey".
Incidentally, on Tuesday, a man wielding a gun threatened protesters at Shaheen Bagh.
Both the incidents come days after Union Minister Anurag Thakur led chants of ‘shoot the traitors’ at a poll rally in north Delhi’s Rithala. The minister prompted "desh ke gaddaron ko..." to which the crowd responded "...goli maaro sa***n ko". The chant translates to "shoot down the traitors who betray the country".
The Election Commission has barred Union Minister Anurag Thakur from campaigning in the Delhi Assembly polls for three days and BJP MP Parvesh Verma for four days for their controversial remarks.
(With PTI inputs)
