Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari claims Jamia shooter 'an AAP supporter or from Shaheen Bagh': Report

The Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari has claimed that the youth who fired at students of Jamia Millia Islamia university on Thursday during an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest is “an AAP supporter or from Shaheen Bagh”, NDTV reported. Tiwari, without offering any evidence to substantiate his claim, told NDTV, “I have a feeling that the shooter was either a supporter of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) or was from Shaheen Bagh itself. These people are not being able to sustain their own protest. That is why, now, they’re coming up with these claims.” [caption id=“attachment_5213531” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari. PTI[/caption] Tiwari, asked about the gunman’s profile and Facebook posts, told NDTV, “Anyone can claim to be associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). I am pretty confident he was one among the anti- Citizenship (Amendment) Act protesters.” The youth, who  was sent to 14-day protective custody by a Delhi court on Friday, is a resident of Jewar in Greater Noida, Delhi Police sources told News18 Delhi. His father runs a pan shop, sources added. Before the shooting, the youth put up a post on Facebook saying he intended intended to avenge the death of Chandan Gupta, who was killed during the Kasganj violence that took place in January 2018. The shooter also put up other livestream videos recently showing him walking around the Jamia neighbourhood, where people have been protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act . Other posts on his Facebook profile — which the company later deleted — also show that he was hinting at carrying out such violence for quite some time. One of his posts reads, “On my last journey, take me draped in saffron and shout slogans of Jai Shri Ram.” Yet another of his posts said, “Shaheen Bagh…Game over!” He further wrote on his Facebook profile on Thursday, “I am the only Hindu here”, “There is no Hindu media here” and “Ye lo azadi” (Here’s your ‘freedom’.) He also made an appeal to people to take care of his family. Tiwari, who is part of the 15-member BJP committee for the Delhi Assembly polls, has been in the headlines lately. Earlier in January, the Delhi BJP complained to the Election Commission and sent a defamation notice to AAP seeking Rs 500 crore in damages after it tweeted a video that showed Manoj Tiwari dancing to the tune of Aam Aadmi Party’s campaign song for the forthcoming Assembly polls. In August, Tiwari caused controversy by saying  claiming the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is needed in Delhi as illegal immigrants who have settled here are dangerous and there is a need to “look into” the situation. “National Register of Citizens (NRC) is needed in Delhi as the situation is becoming dangerous. Illegal immigrants who have settled in Delhi are the most dangerous, we will implement NRC here as well,” Tiwari said. When asked at the time if BJP will include it in its manifesto, the BJP MP said, “Why not? It will be in our manifesto. Delhi needs it.” “NRC will help in eliminating terrorism and prevent crime from illegal immigrants,” he added. With inputs from PTI