An unidentified man allegedly opened fire and hurled a petrol bomb at the empty protest site outside the Jamia Millia Islamia on Sunday, according to officials and students of the university.
The spot was inspected by a team from the Forensic ScienceLaboratory (FSL) and a case was registered at the Jamia Nagar police station,Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) RP Meena said.
“A broken bottle, a lighter and an empty cartridge werefound from a spot near the divider of Gate No. 6 of Jamia Millia Islamia,”he added.
Multiple teams were formed to trace the accused, the officersaid.
The Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC), comprising currentand former students of the university, had temporarily suspended its sit-inprotest against the new citizenship law on Saturday in view of the coronavirusoutbreak.
In a statement, the JCC said a miscreant opened fire andhurled a petrol bomb at the protest site at Jamia Square, Gate No. 7 of theuniversity.
The statement added that CCTV footage showed the miscreantin the get-up of a delivery boy with a helmet and three bags on his bike, dueto which its number plate was not visible.
“Police have taken away the bullet, while pieces of aglass bottle are still there,” it said.
According to a university official, the incident occurredaround 9.30 am.
“The man came from the Okhla side, probably aftercommitting a similar act at Shaheen Bagh. He hurled a bottle at the tent nearGate No. 7,” he said.
The tent was empty since the students had suspended theprotest.
As the tent did not catch fire, the man allegedly tried toset it ablaze using a lighter and fired a few rounds, the university officialsaid, adding, “We informed the police about the incident and handed overthe CCTV footage to them.”
He said after the incident, the miscreant fled towardsJulena.
A similar incident occurred a few metres away at the ShaheenBagh protest site, where an unidentified person allegedly hurled a petrol bomb.No one sustained injuries in the incident.Two unidentifiedpersons had opened fire near one of the gates of the university last month.Before that, a minor had opened fire near the protest site, injuring oneperson.