SIT to probe all incidents of violence, including use of firearms

Nearly three weeks after the police fired tear-gas shells in the city and thrashed students inside the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) library, a senior officer confirmed that they had opened fire during the anti-CAA protests here.

Confirming reports in NDTV and The Indian Express, the police officer, who preferred not to go on record, said a Special Investigation Team (SIT) would probe all incidents of violence, including the use of firearms by the police.

Since the incident, the Delhi police had maintained that no gunshots were fired on protesters.

Even a protester undergoing treatment at Safdurjung Hospital is suspected to have received gunshot injury but later it was claimed that injury was from shards of tear-gas canisters. In a video shot by a resident and uploaded on social media, three policemen were seen using a wall as a shield while stones were being pelted at them.

Two policemen pulled out their service pistols and fired three shots in the direction of the protesters and they ran away. The video was shot at Mathura Road on December 15.

“We won’t be able to confirm it as the investigation is with SIT. If it was done, then it was an act of self-defence. No separate inquiry is required,” said the officer.

A senior officer who was at the spot, saw the policemen firing, had mentioned it in police diary.