New Delhi: On Saturday, February 1, two bullets were fired near the protest site at Shaheen Bagh, where women have been staging round the clock sit-in at Sarita Vihar-Kalindi Kunj- Noida highway for the past 48 days against CAA-NRC-NPR. The incident happened two days after a student was injured following a gun fired by a minor boy at a peaceful march to Raj Ghat in front of Jamia Millia Islamia,
No injuries were sustained during the incident. The attacker came from Sarita Vihar side, crossing the first picket where the police are deployed round the clock, said those who were present at the site. He has been identified as Kapil Gujjar, a president of Dallupura – a village on the outskirts of the trans-Yamuna region in the national capital. He came close to the stage and fired from a distance of around 200 metres.
"When we heard the gun shots, we ran towards the attacker. He tried to flee but we managed to catch hold of him. He was handed over to the police. Two empty bullet shells were found at the place where the man fired the bullets. The attacker had thrown his firearm in the bushes on the roadside, but we recovered and gave it to the police," Kafeel Akhtar, an eyewitness, told NewsClick.
Another eyewitness Shahnawaz blamed the cops for what happened today at Shaheen Bagh and yesterday at Jamia Millia Islamia.
Also read: Student Injured as Man Fires at Protesting Jamia Students, Shouts ‘Yeh Lo Azaadi’
"The gunman was accompanied by two more men. They reached near the stage and began shouting 'Jai Shri Ram'. As volunteers stopped him near the second barricade, the gun totting man pointed his fire arm at us and opened fire. We surrounded him from different sides. While his companions managed to flee from the police’s side, we caught the gunman. In the meantime, the police rushed to the spot and pointed pistol at us, asking us to hand him over. What do the police want to do? It's not spontaneous. It's pre-planned. They want to kill us. But we are also ready to shed our lives," he said.
In a video footage on the ground, he can be heard, as saying, "Hamare desh mein kisi aur ki nahin chalegi, sirf Hinduon ki chalegi. (No one else can do anything in our country, only Hindus will prevail)."
South East DCP Chinmay Biswal said the gunman opened fire in the air. "The police immediately overpowered and caught him. We are questioning him for details," he said.
The incident came days after a series of venomous speeches were delivered at election rallies addressed by top BJP leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, MoS for Finance Anurag Thakur, MP Parvesh Verma and Kapil Mishra. Thakur has been severely criticised for inviting people to "shoot the traitors".
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath while addressing a poll meeting at Karawal Nagar attacked the anti-CAA protesters, saying that their ancestors were involved in the division of the country.
