At the Shaheen Bagh protest on Sunday. (file/Express photo by Gajendra Yadav) At the Shaheen Bagh protest on Sunday. (file/Express photo by Gajendra Yadav)

An armed man entered the protest area at Shaheen Bagh on Tuesday and threatened the protesters to their agitation, eyewitnesses told news agency PTI.

A video clip of the alleged incident, which has gone viral on social media, shows the man being overpowered by the protesters.

According to Syed Taseer Ahmed, one of the protestors and a local, the man, who claimed to have links with a political party, climbed up the stage around 3 pm and threatened people to end the agitation. He was, however, overpowered by other protestors and taken away from the site.

#WATCH A person who had gone to Shaheen Bagh to talk to protestors brandished a licensed pistol at the protest site, today. More details awaited. (Source – Delhi Police) pic.twitter.com/kHFbUnt8KG — ANI (@ANI) January 28, 2020

Shaheen Bagh Official, a Twitter handle which posts updates from the protest site, wrote at 6 pm, “An official and urgent appeal from Shaheen Bagh: armed anti-social elements have entered the protest area. We fear that more right-wing groups could enter and launch an attack. We appeal to all to join the protest, strengthen our numbers and prevent any violence.”

At 6.21pm, it tweeted an update.

“Infiltrators have been caught and neutralised, and the situation is back to normal. However, we are on alert for more such incidents today and in the coming days as we reach elections in Delhi. Please reach Shaheen Bagh and sites across Delhi in large numbers”.

The protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act at Shaheen Bagh, primarily led by women, has been witnessing supporters flocking in thousands everyday. However, it has also been criticised for blocking the road and causing inconvenience to motorists and schoolchildren.

The incident comes on a day when West Delhi BJP MP Pravesh Verma said protesters at Shaheen Bagh “can enter homes and rape our sisters and daughters”. The protesters at Shaheen Bagh are predominantly women. Verma also said if the protest at Shaheen Bagh continued, Delhi will face a “Kashmir-like situation”.

“People of Delhi know that the incident that had happened in Kashmir, the daughters and sisters of Kashmiri Pandits were raped. Similar incidents continued to happen in Uttar Pradesh, Hyderabad, Kerala. Today, a similar situation has arisen at a place in Delhi (Shaheen Bagh). Lakhs of people gather there. People of Delhi will have to think and make a decision. They can enter your houses, rape your sisters and daughters and kill them. There’s time today, Modiji and Amit Shah won’t come to save you tomorrow… People are safe until Narendra Modi is the prime Minister. If someone else takes charge, nobody will feel safe here,” Verma said.

Verma’s remarks are in line with those made by Home Minister Amit Shah recently. Shah, while addressing a gathering of the BJP’s social media volunteers at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium three days ago, had said, “February 8 ke subah parivar ke saath, 10 baje se pehle kamal ke nishaan par button dabainge?… Aur mitron, itni zor se dabana woh button ki current se hi sham ko woh Shaheen Bagh waale uth kar chale jaayein (On the morning of February 8, will you, along with your family, press the lotus symbol before 10 am… and friends, press the button so hard that its current forces the protesters at Shaheen Bagh to leave the place by evening).”

With PTI inputs

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