Jamia Firing: Gunman Posted Threats On Facebook Hours Before Shooting

Days after Union minister and BJP leader Anurag Thakur called for “anti-national” protesters to be shot , a man who has now been identified as a minor opened fire at a protest outside the Jamia Millia Islamia University on Thursday afternoon. 

A student was injured in the incident. The Delhi Police have taken the man into custody. 

A look at the man’s Facebook profile shows that he was present at the protest for a while and had posted several live videos from there. 

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The shooter’s Facebook profile shows that he made several inflammatory and outrightly communal posts just hours before he landed up at the protest. One of the posts before he shot at the protesters says “Shaheen Bagh... khel khatam” which translates to “Shaheen Bagh... game over”. 

In the about section of his profile, he claims to be a member of the Bajrang Dal. 

His Facebook is no longer available. 

BJP leaders have been trying to polarise Delhi voters on religious lines over the peaceful protests in Shaheen Bagh against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA ).

In one of the posts, the gunman said “I am going on my last journey... I hope I find god and there are chants of Jai Sri Ram”.

In another, he said he was the “only Hindu” at the protests and no “Hindu media” was present at the protest. 

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While he shouted “ye loh azadi” when he shot at the protesters, he had written on Facebook “azadi de raha hoon (I’m giving them freedom).  

Even more worryingly, since the news broke, hundreds of people have been commenting with messages of support under these posts, saying “we are with you” or “we support you”. 

Meanwhile, the police have said the student who was shot, Shadab Alam, is stable and was being given medical care. The police have not revealed if the man is associated with any organisation or where he found the weapon. 

Editor’s note: This article has been edited to removed the name of the shooter as several news reports say he is a minor. His photo has also been blurred.