We Asked Delhi Cops to Stop Gunman, They Just Watched: Eyewitness

The armed assailant fired his weapon and injured Shadab Najar, a first-year Masters student at Jamia.

Delhi Police stood by and watched as mute spectators as a man brandished a gun at protesters near Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Video editor: Ashish Maccune

Delhi Police stood by and watched as a man brandished a gun at protesters near Jamia Millia Islamia, an eyewitness recounted to The Quint. The armed assailant fired his gun, injuring a first-year Masters student of Mass Communication at the university, Shadab Najar.

Shadab had to be rushed to the Trauma Centre at AIIMS, Delhi. The Quint spoke with Aamna Asif, a third-year Economics (Hons) student at Jamia Millia Islamia, who was with Shadab when this transpired.

Aamna narrated her chilling eyewitness account of Delhi Police’s inaction and how her friend Shadab was shot at by the armed attacker.

“This armed man was there, walking towards Holy Family Hospital, where all the barricading and police was there. We started shouting, asking the police for help to stop this guy. And the police were just standing there and watching. We tried to calm him down, but he fired. He fired randomly, and it hit Shadab’s hand.”

Aamna Asif, Eyewitness

‘Shouted For Help, Delhi Police Refused’

Aamna recounted, “We (Shadab and I) were together when this happened. I was an eyewitness to what took place. There was a march planned from Jamia to Rajghat today. The march was proceeding. Suddenly, this man comes with a revolver in his hand. He started shouting and he was very angry and ruthless. No one was able to control him. We were all trying to calm him down because we didn’t want anyone to be able to disrupt the peace of the protest.”

She described how Delhi Police did not act despite their repeated pleas, “We were shouting for help. We told them to stop him, to control him. But no one did.”

About the identity of the attacker, Aamna said, “He was none of us. None of us could recognise him. He was an outsider.”

In the video above, the assailant can be seen walking with the gun and shouting slogans like, “Ye lo azaadi”, “Delhi Police zindabad” and “Hindustan zindabad.”

It is worth recalling that BJP MP Anurag Thakur and BJP candidate Kapil Mishra are among those who have publicly made incendiary statements in last few days by leading chants of “Goli maaro saal** ko, desh ke gaddaro ko” (Shoot the traitors of this country).