NEW DELHI: After nine days of hot pursuit, Delhi Police on Tuesday finally arrested Mohammed Shahrukh, the man who was seen pointing a gun at a head constable in Jaffrabad area of northeast Delhi on the second day of the violence that erupted with clashes between pro- and anti-CAA groups on February 23. He was arrested from Shamli district of Uttar Pardesh while he was planning to change his location, said Ajit Kumar Singla, Additional Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch.
He was produced before a court and remanded in four-day police custody. Shahrukh has been charged under Section 307 (attempt to murder), 186, and 353 of IPC and Arms Act. “Further sections may be added during investigation, if needed. We will also investigate who all were in touch with him since February 24 and who helped him in hiding,” said the Additional CP.“During preliminary interrogation, Shahrukh told us that he had fired in a fit of rage. We are trying to recover the pistol, which he had obtained through a worker from his factory. He has no criminal background, but his father is facing a narcotics and fake currency case,” Singla said.
According to the police, the semi-automatic weapon used by Shahrukh was made in Munger (Bihar). Shahrukh, a college dropout, was seen brandishing a gun on February 24 and even fired in the air before fleeing. The video of the incident had gone viral on social media.“He fired three shots in the air… We will investigate whether he was part of any conspiracy or was instigated by some organised group,” Singla said at a press conference.
The police said a team of crime branch officials kept a close watch on Shahrukh’s movement and nabbed him when he was approaching a bus stand in Shamli. “Shahrukh had been hiding since the incident. He first went to Connaught Place and slept there in a car. Then he went to Jalandhar to take refuge at a friend’s place and then went to Bareilly. Later, he moved to Shamli. We are yet to discover his car, which he used to flee. We managed to arrest him with the help of technical and manual surveillance,” said the officer.
After the incident, he was initially in Delhi. He first went to Punjab and then Bareilly.
Shahrukh in limelight for wrong reason
According to the police, a college dropout Shahrukh aspired to be a model and used to make videos on the social networking app TikTok. “He has produced music video, which is yet to be launched. He was a student of BA second year, but dropped out. Currently, he runs a sock manufacturing unit,” said Singla.