‘He was average student, always quiet’: Jamia shooter’s teacher

A teacher at the school where the teenager studies said he had never received any complaint about him either from teachers or students.

The administrator of a private school in Jewar was surprised when he learnt that a student of class 11 was the perpetrator of the shooting outside Jamia Millia Islamia on Thursday that left a 22-year-old man injured.

A view of the school in Jewar, near Noida, where the teenager who fired at protesters at Jamia Nagar, studied. (Virendra Singh Gosain/HT PHOTO)

The administrator said he has known the boy since 2014, when he joined the school.

“He joined in class 6. He is an average student, but was always quiet. I have never received a complaint about him either from teachers or students,” he said.

The administrator said the boy had won a wrestling championship at Jewar’s Daooji Mandir two years ago.

“After winning it, he came to me and said he wanted to be a wrestler. But, because I knew his parents’ socio-economic condition, I asked him to give up the idea. He did so, and tried to focus on his studies after that,” he said.

The administrator said he met him in school on January 28.

“He was a bit late. Before that, I got a call from his mother and she said the boy was not ready to accompany them to a marriage function in a neighbouring village. When I asked, he told me what reason was and agreed to go with them,” he said.

As Wednesday was a holiday owing to Saraswati Puja, neither he nor the boy came to the school.

“The day after that, when I found out that he was caught firing the gun at Jamia, I could not believe it,” he said.

The administrator claimed the boy may have been “brainwashed”.

“Only a thorough investigation will reveal how the gun came into his hands,” he said.

Meanwhile, the boy’s home remained crowded with visitors throughout Friday. If shopkeepers around the house are to be believed, a majority of the people who arrived were strangers.

A shopkeeper who asked not to be named said, “Since Thursday afternoon, at least 2,000 visitors have come to the boy’s house. They have taken away his books and documents,” he said.