New Delhi: Two men, who claimed responsibility for attack on JNU student leader Umar Khalid, have been detained.
According to the police, Darwesh Shahpur and Naveen Dalal are currently being interrogated. The police, however, did not specify when the two were detained. A team of Delhi police’s special cell had visited the village of Sikh revolutionary Kartar Singh Sarabha, where the two had said they would surrender on August 17. However, they did not turn up.
On Monday, the accused claimed they were cow vigilantes, who had gone to disrupt the event that was underway at Constitution Club in Delhi to draw attention towards the protection of cows.
The police detained Shahpur and Dalal in the early hours on Monday.
During interrogation, the duo told police that they had planned to disrupt the event ‘Khauff se Azaadi’ (Freedom from Fear), which was being held on August 13 at Constitution Club and where activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan and Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha were present as speakers.
When Dalal reached the Constitution Club, he found Mr Khalid outside the venue and attacked him. In a video uploaded on Facebook on August 15, they claimed the attack on Mr Khalid was supposed to be an “Independence Day gift” to citizens. Police is verifying the authenticity of the video and trying to trace the IP address from where it was uploaded. Through the video, they requested the police to not trouble anyone and said they would surrender in Sarabha village. Mr Khalid was attacked when he was on his way to take part in the event. He escaped unhurt.
Last Tuesday, Delhi police had handed over the case to its special cell, which incidentally is already probing a sedition case against Mr Khalid and two other JNU students. It also said that it was not “intimated” about Monday’s event attended by Mr Khalid.
An officer privy to the probe also said the police had seized the weapon used in the crime. Preliminary forensic examination suggested that the pistol had jammed when it was used against Khalid.
