THE SHOOTER, it emerged, is a 17-year-old Class 11 student who left home in the morning saying he was going to school. But instead of his school at Jewar in Uttar Pradesh, he landed at the protest venue, with a gun concealed in his black jacket. He melted in the crowd of protesters for a while, even streaming live on Facebook.
His family was stunned when they learnt that he was the gunman at the Delhi protest. His friends tried to project him as a simple boy with no political connections. But his Facebook page has several inflammatory posts, which suggest otherwise.
His Facebook page is full of messages like: "Shaheen Bagh, Game Over" and "I am the lone Hindu here". There were some "farewell" messages, too. "On my last journey, drape me in saffron and shout slogans of Jai Shri Ram." His Facebook profile identified him as "Rambhakt Gopal." According to an NDTV report, the boy's father has a tobacco shop.
