Shaheen Bagh shooter's father claimed he was a supporter of PM Narendra Modi.
Highlights
- Kapil Gujjar was caught firing in the air at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh
- His father said his son was "supporter" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi
- Police had said Kapil Gujjar confessed to being a member of AAP
The father of Kapil Gujjar - the man caught firing in the air at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh last week - has triggered controversy, claiming his son was a "supporter" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. Just hours ago on Wednesday, he had claimed that he or his son had "nothing to do with politics".
On Tuesday evening, the police said the 25-year-old, who shouted "Jai Shri Ram" as he fired shots near the anti-citizenship law protest venue at Shaheen Bagh, had confessed to being a member of AAP.
They also released a photos, which they said were from the from the shooter's phone and established him as an AAP member. The photos showed him wearing the party's trademark cap, standing with AAP leaders like Sanjay Singh and Atishi.
On Wednesday morning, Kapil Gujjar's father and brother denied any connection with the Delhi's ruling party.
"Neither me nor my family has anything to do with AAP. They came to campaign during the Lok Sabha election (last year) and made us all wear AAP caps and that is what the photo is," Kapil's father Gaje Singh had said.
But hours later, he had other things to say.
"My son is a supporter of Modi... He was a follower of Modi and Amit Shah," he told news agency ANI. Insisting that his son had nothing to do with politics, he said Kapil Gujjar was "troubled about the roads being blocked at Shaheen Bagh... because a job would take him four hours instead of one".
Indicating that his son also shares right wing, nationalistic views, he said, "My son always speaks of Hindustan and Hindutva".
The police revelation three days ahead of the Delhi assembly election has set off a bitter war of words between the Aam Aadmi Party and the BJP.
While AAP's Sanjay Singh accused the police of taking orders from Home Minister Amit Shah, the BJP said the evidence from the investigation was a vindication of their claim that AAP and its chief were engineering the protests.
Mr Kejriwal, who earlier today accused Amit Shah of using the police for a "petty conspiracy", attacked the BJP again after the shooter's father's fresh comments.
"The BJP is playing dirty politics with Delhi's law and order and the nation's security. Slapping false allegations against AAP two days ahead of the election is dirty politics. Now the truth is out," his Hindi tweet, roughly translated, read.
The police and the BJP are yet to comment on the matter.