New Delhi:
Minutes before he fired at anti-CAA protesters in Jamia Nagar on Thursday, the armed man wrote multiple Facebook posts berating the agitators and their ‘Aazaadi’ slogans, and hinting he was prepared for any eventuality.
He wrote: “Aazaadi de raha hun (giving you the freedom)”, “Shaheen bhag khel khatm” (Run Shaheen, the game is over), “Mere ghar ka khayal rakhna” (take care of my home) and “meri antim yatra par mujhe bhagve me le jayen aur shree ram ke nare hon” (wrap me in the saffron for my last rites and chant Shri Ram).
The man who named himself “Rambhakt Gopal” in his Facebook profile, which has now been deleted, also said he is taking revenge for “Chandan Bhai”, apparently referring to a Chandan Gupta who died of gunshot wounds after he was shot at during a motorcycle rally taken out to celebrate the Republic Day in 2018.
“Chandan bhai ye badla aapke liye hai (this revenge is for you),” he had posted.
Police said they are yet to ascertain his real name and age, even though pictures of his purported marksheet and Aadhaar card, hinting that he is a minor, circulated on social media.
Anti-CAA protesters at Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh and other places often raise slogans like CAA se Aazaadi, NRC se Aazaadi (freedom from CAA and NRC).
The man also went live on Facebook five times from the protest site and his cover picture of his profile showed him holding a sword.
In another post, he said, “please don’t call”, suggesting he was receiving calls on his phone following his posts.
His profile bio on Facebook read, “Rambhakt Gopal naam hai mera, bio main itna kafi hai, baki samay ane par. Jai Shree Ram (Rambhakt Gopal is my name. This much is enough for the bio. Rest at an appropriate time. Jai Shree Ram)”.
The Facebook profile was deleted after screenshots of the posts were shared widely on social media.
According to witnesses, the man fired a pistol at a group of anti-CAA protesters in Jamia Nagar, injuring a student, before walking away while waving the firearm above his head and shouting “Yeh lo aazadi” amid heavy police presence in the area.
The accused, who stays with his family in Jewar area, had skipped a family wedding while his kin had gone out of Jewar to attend it.
People from his neighbourhood expressed shock at the development.
“He would mostly stay alone and quiet. He never got into violence of any kind nor had any such track record. I got to see his Facebook live and was shocked. I was having my food but stopped midway because what was happening was beyond my imagination,” said Yogi Sharma, a Jewar local, who knew the family.
He said his parents and other people in the area came to know about the incident from TV channels after they starting broadcasting live video soon after his Facebook live.
