25-year-old Kapil Gurjar, who had shot to limelight by opening fire at this year’s anti-CAA protesters in Shaheen Bagh, formally joined the BJP in Ghaziabad near India’s national capital. However, hours later, the saffron party announced that it had cancelled his membership amidst widespread condemnation.
Gurjar, who was earlier said to be an AAP worker, was inducted into the BJP on Wednesday. Curiously, the Delhi Police had earlier described Gujjar as a worker of Delhi’s Aam Aadmi Party.
According to Ghaziabad BJP President Sanjeev Sharma, the BJP did not have the knowledge of Gurjar’s association with Shaheen Bagh shooting. “Kapil Gurjar was part of a group of BSP workers who joined BJP today. We had no knowledge about his association with Shaheen Bagh issue,” Sharma was quoted as news agency ANI.
Speaking to reporters, Rajesh Deo, a senior officer of the Crime Branch had said that his team had stumbled upon some photos from Gujjar’s phone that proved his connection with the AAP. Deo had said that Gujjar and his father had joined AAP last year.
In viral photos shared on Twitter, Gujjar can be seen standing next to several AAP leaders including Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and AAP MLA Atishi Marlena.
Then: He opened fire on anti-CAA protestors at Delhi’s Jamia area.
Now: He officially joins the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP).
Kapil Gujjar, ladies and gentlemen! pic.twitter.com/c3DOdaLPeg
— Prashant Kumar (@scribe_prashant) December 30, 2020
No sooner did the police claim on Gujjar become public, the BJP had intensified its attack on AAP calling the party a sympathiser of terrorists. Union Minister Prakash Javdekar had said, “AAP is completely exposed in front of people of Delhi. The shooter of Shaheen Bagh has turned out to be an AAP member. He had joined AAP with his father a year ago. AAP leader Sanjay Singh had welcomed him. There are photos to prove this.”
Gujjar’s action had come just days after another Hindutva terrorist opened fire at anti-CAA protesters in Jamia area, near Shaheen Bagh, where thousands of people have been staging peaceful protests.