AAP, police in squabble over identity of Shaheen shooter

A day after Delhi Police said that the Shaheen Bagh gunman, 23-year-old Kapil Gujjar, joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) last year along with his father, Choudhary

A day after Delhi Police said that the Shaheen Bagh gunman, 23-year-old Kapil Gujjar, joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) last year along with his father, Choudhary Gaje Singh, two videos surfaced on social media in which Singh appeared to deny his association with the party, even as a tussle over the shooter’s identity continued.

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One of the videos showed Singh purportedly saying that his son is a “supporter” and “sevak” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the other, the shooter’s father and brother were seen saying he had no link with the AAP.

Hindustan Times could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos.

The police said on Wednesday that they could not comment on the video until they spoke to Singh and Gujjar. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not respond to requests for seeking comments.

Chief minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal said at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon that if the gunman was found to be from his party, he should be given “double the punishment”.

“I am not aware of his (shooter’s) ties with any party. But if he is even remotely related to AAP, he deserves the maximum punishment for what he has done. I want to request home minister to stop playing politics on the security of the nation and urge him to not compromise with national security,” Kejriwal said.

Later in the day, he re-tweeted one of the videos that were doing the rounds on social media. In it, Gujjar’s father is seen claiming that he and his sons never took AAP membership or had any association with a political party.

“…my son (Gujjar) is into dairy business with me and has nothing to do with politics. I have never shared stage with AAP [leaders] or have ever done campaigning for the party,” Singh said in the video. He is also seen saying that his son was annoyed because of the road blockade at Shaheen Bagh, where protesters have been protesting since the last 52 days against the new citizenship law and the possibility of a pan-India National Register of Citizens.

On Wednesday evening, Hindustan Times went to Gujjar’s home for a response from Gujjar family on the police’s allegations. While the father and Gujjar’s brother, Sachin, were not present at the house, their family members refused to comment.

In response to the two videos, which differs from the police’s contention on Tuesday that the family was associated with the AAP, a senior Delhi police officer said that the shooter’s fathe and brother were absconding.

“We can only comment if they appear before us. They were served two summons but they are yet to respond. We have already taken Gujjar’s statement in which he has confirmed that he is a member of the AAP. The photographs of the day when he had joined the party was also recovered from his phone,” the officer said, requesting anonymity.

Police said they need to question the two to find out who deleted Gujjar’s WhatsApp account, videos, and images from his cellphone. The pictures in which Gujjar and his father were seen with the Aam Aadmi Party members were allegedly deleted from the phone and were retrieved by forensic teams after the police had seized them. They would also be questioned regarding Gujjar’s disclosure that he had kept the country made pistol, which he used in the firing, at home for the past seven years, a second officer said.

On Tuesday, deputy commissioner of police (crime) Rajesh Deo, who is heading the probe, had said that Gujjar and his father were members of the Aam Aadmi Party and joined the party in early 2019 in the presence of senior party leaders.

While the photographs that surfaced on social media on Tuesday showed Gujjar and his father alongside Aam Aadmi Party leaders such as its Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh and Atishi, a party candidate from Kalkaji constituency, the party denied the links.

In one of the videos, the shooter’s father and brother were seen saying that the photograph was from an AAP event in the locality and did not mean that they were associated with the party.

Cops looking for man who gave pistol

Investigators said that Gujjar, who is in their custody, disclosed that he had procured the pistol seven years ago from a person named Kapil Tiwari, who lived as a tenant in the neighbourhood. He had allegedly procured it for “celebratory firing” at his brother’s wedding.

“Kapil Tiwari is no longer living in the neighbourhood. We are trying to find out his present location for questioning,” an investigator said.

On Saturday, at around 4.30pm, Kapil Gujjar fired two bullets into the air less than 150 metres from the Shaheen Bagh protest venue. He was caught by police personnel from the spot even as he tried to run away.

As he was being detained when Gujjar was caught on camera as saying, “No other community will have a say in this country. Only Hindus will.”