Gopal Sharma who fired at protesters near Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi on Thursday has been charged with attempted murder, the police said today. The 17-year-old, a class 11 student from Uttar Pradesh, has also been charged under the Arms Act. The police say he had bought the crude pistol a few days ago and had been planning to attack a protest against the citizenship law. On Thursday morning, the teen reportedly left his house in Jewar, about 68 km from Delhi, claiming he was going to school as usual. But he took a bus to Delhi instead. Before his act, the teen shooter had been on Facebook livestreaming.
Videos on the teen's Facebook timeline showed him walking around in the crowded road - the venue of the protest - with a red backpack on. His posts seemed to indicate that he had come prepared for the consequences of his action. "On my last journey, take me draped in saffron and shout slogans of Jai Shri Ram," one of them in Hindi read. Home Minister Amit Shah has ordered stringent action in the shooting incident and said "the culprit will not be spared". Post the incident, Facebook took down the account of the shooter saying the social network has no place for violence.