The teenager who opened fire at the people who were protesting against the CAA at Jamia, had been given Rs 10,000 by his parents to get clothes stitched for a relative’s wedding, instead he spent the money to buy a country-made pistol from a 19-year-old who stays in his village in Gautam Buddha Nagar district. This came to light during his initial questioning by police.
On Friday, the youth was produced before a Juvenile Justice Board and sent to 14-day protective custody.
The questioning also revealed how round-the-clock consumption of hateful content on social media and WhatsApp over the past eight months sent the 17-year-old down a path of anger, culminating in Thursday’s shooting.An officer familiar with the investigation told that around two years ago, the youth came in touch with some people online, and they would discuss how their religion was under threat. “He would closely follow their posts and stream their videos, and was active on WhatsApp groups critical of the current anti-CAA protests, especially in Shaheen Bagh and Jamia,” the officer said.