Kapil does not seem to have any link with organisations that espouse Hindutva. In Dallupura, everyone told Newslaundry that he was mild-mannered and was not known for indulging in altercations. He has three siblings and has been married for four years, with a two-year-old daughter.

Fateh Singh, Kapil’s relative, says all that concerned the young man was his buffalos.

“He could look at a buffalo and tell you how much milk it could yield. His aspirations also revolved around buffalos. He did not have any interest in politics,” Singh told Newslaundry.

Kapil’s father did have a political history. He had fought the 2007 and 2012 municipal elections in Delhi on a Bahujan Samaj Party ticket (BSP). The family has put politics behind them, and was only concerned with their business: to produce dairy products in Ghazipur, and sell them in Badarpur.

When asked about Kapil’s statements on Hindus and Hindu Rashtra, Singh told Newslaundry that the nature of the Shaheen Bagh protests are behind such sentiments. “The Mohammedans have closed the road for so many days. You know how they’ve caused a ruckus,” he says. “He did not hate Mohammedans. We have Mohammedans as tenants in our house. It is possible that the protesters had harassed him.”

“I met him earlier in the day. He was smoking a cigarette and seemed normal. When he left around afternoon, I thought he was leaving for his dairy,” says Satish Kumar, a friend of Kapil’s father. “Then we opened the TV and saw the news. I was aghast. We have no idea what happened.”

At this point, the lightning-fast ANI arrives outside Gujjar’s home. Singh, who had refused to have his picture taken moments before, is convinced to give a video byte to the newswire agency. But today, ANI is not the first one to reach the spot — it was late. Its cameraman blamed Manoj Tiwari’s public meeting in Lakshminagar for the delay. “You know how it is, we hardly get to sleep during the elections. And then you have to locate such godforsaken places like Dallupura.”