Khalid’s attacker dropped his pistol while escaping on foot

Firing on JNU student #UmarKhalid: A CCTV grab of the suspect, caught yesterday on the CCTV camera installed at Vit… https://t.co/F4FzY8rYbR — ANI (@ANI) 1534213683000

I got scared as he had a gun:

Umar

Khalid

NEW DELHI: JNU research scholar Umar Khalid had a narrow escape when an unidentified assailant allegedly tried to shoot him from point-blank range at the Constitution Club of India on Monday. The pistol apparently jammed as the assailant pulled the trigger and no shot was fired. The assailant, described as a "dark, fat" man, escaped on foot, dropping the weapon across the road from the venue, barely 500 metres from Parliament .On Tuesday, the police also released a footage of the suspect.Khalid was one of the students arrested in the JNU sedition case of 2016, where controversial slogans were allegedly raised during a function to commemorate Parliament attack case convict Afzal Guru. He had come to attend a programme at the club.According to witnesses, at 2.42pm, the man wearing a cap, white shirt and brown trousers walked up to Khalid who was having tea with his friends, identified as Shariq and Banjyotsna Lahiri.The assailant had a scuffle with Khalid and pushed him to the ground. The attacker then allegedly aimed the pistol at Khalid from a close distance and fired. "I got scared because I noticed that the man had a gun. I knew that if he had a gun he would fire; but my plan was to keep his gun-toting hand away. While this was going on, three of my friends who were with me tried to overpower him and push him aside. The attacker got scared and started running away," said Khalid.One eyewitness claimed that the attacker also fired in the air while fleeing. But no spent cartridge was found. Some said the attacker deliberately dropped the gun, others said it fell out of his pocket. A shopkeeper said he saw two men running out of the main gate, suggesting that the assailant wasn't alone.Banojyotsna Lahiri, who was accompanying Khalid, said, "We had to get Umar away from the man as he was carrying a gun with him."The incident is being considered a major breach of security before Independence Day, given that a person managed to roam around with a weapon so close to Parliament.Police commissioner Amulya Patnaik has formed several teams and also asked the crime branch and special cell to probe the case. Police are scanning footage from all CCTV cameras around Constitution Club to identify and trace the assailant.Sources said the assailant has been captured in at least two of the cameras on the road leading to the club. In one of the clips, the man is seen running towards the Patel Chowk metro station.The pistol found at the spot has been sent for forensic examination to ascertain if a bullet was fired from it. The weapon is of 9mm caliber and sources said it looked like an improvised version of desi kattas which are made in Munger or Meerut. It was old and rusted. Six bullets were found in the magazine.Police said they had no information about the event as no permission had been sought from them."The road was fairly crowded at that time. Suddenly, I noticed these students running towards Constitution Club while a man crossed the road towards the INS building and ran towards the Patel Chowk metro station," said Ghanshyam Gupta, who owns the tea stall near which the incident took place. According to him, none of them saw the shot being fired, but heard people talking about a cracker like sound.Ashish Pandey, who was there for an event , said that the man who had fired at Umar was well-built and had managed to knock the research scholar down with a single blow.Locals say that there were a number of cops posted at the Constitution Club at the time because another programme, in which BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi was participating, was being held at the adjacent hall.Khalid's statement was recorded and he was escorted out. Lekhi had also met Khalid and inquired about the incident. An FIR was lodged.