Background of his case
Shahrukh Pathan is an ordinary Muslim youth. According to his mother, he was fond of wearing good clothes and looking at himself in the mirror. He liked modelling and making videos. He never participated in any criminal activity and worked with the socks manufacturing unit that his family owned. According to Ali, it was Shahrukh doing the major work, getting orders, and distributing the same. In his absence, life has come to a grinding halt for the family.
Pathan’s family resides in North East Delhi. His father, Samar Ali, converted to Islam from Sikhism, and his mother, Shahana is a homemaker.
Between December 2019 – February 2020, north-east Delhi was the hub of anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests, a democratic and peaceful assertion of people’s rights. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) mobilized its cadre to hold rallies supporting the government narrative. In February 2020, the BJP leader Kapil Mishra made a speech during one such demonstration, threatening to remove the anti-CAA protesters from the protest site. Soon after his speech, the riots began in north-east Delhi, the hub of anti-CAA protests.
Pathan’s father, Ali, narrates, “ Shahrukh spotted a man in front of him with a pistol. With the intention of saving himself, he used his presence of mind and kicked the man above his ankles. He slipped and the pistol fell from his hands. Shahrukh got hold of it and then shot in the air, dispersing the entire crowd.”
According to the Police, Sharukh took the pistol from a labourer two days before the incident.
Shahana told the reporter that Shahrukh never wanted to hurt anyone. He said, “ I was doing that so the men from the other side would go back and stop stone pelting, abusing and hurting us. I did not hurt the police constable. I told him, ‘aap hat jao uncle, main idhar chala raha hoon.” (you move on the side, uncle, I am aiming the pistol elsewhere). The Police constable also, in multiple interviews, asserted that Pathan didn’t fire at him.”
Shahrukh absconded after the police televised his face. He went to Punjab and then Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh. The Police tracked his location subsequently. He was arrested in Shamli, Uttar Pradesh, in March 2020 and brought to Daryaganj Police station in New Delhi.
Charges
Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code (Attempt to Murder), section 27 of The Arms Act, and other relevant sections under IPC.
Current Status
His bail application was rejected multiple times. Recently, in May 2022, the court granted four hours of custody parole, taking a humanitarian approach to meet his ailing father.
Last Update
Not yet released.