New Delhi, March 3 Shahrukh Khan who pointed a gun at a Delhi Police constable during the riots last week and is now under arrest has a chequered history of crime. After his arrest from Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday, the Delhi Police Crime Branch is now planning to pin down the entire family for spreading violence in the area.
Shahrukh hit the national headlines after he was caught on camera brandishing a pistol at Delhi Police Constable Deepak Dahia during the riots on February 24. He was also seen firing several rounds in the air in the video that went viral on social media.
Dahia had recounted his side of the story explaining how he tamed Shahrukh with the help of just a stick. Dahia who was deployed in the northeast district on February 24 to contain the riots had said, "suddenly a man in maroon colour T-shirt came charging at me and threatened to shoot me. He could have opened fire at me, but I remained calm and did not show my fear. I showed my stick to him and dared him to fire. I stayed put in front of him and asked him to put down the gun. It worked and the man (Shahrukh) retreated firing in the air."
After the video went viral, Shahrukh went missing from the national capital. The Delhi Police launched a massive manhunt to nab him. On Tuesday, he was arrested from Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, where he was hiding for the last 5-6 days.
Two teams of Delhi Police were formed to nab Shahrukh - Delhi Police crime branch and Delhi Police special cell. Multiple raids were conducted in Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh and finally the crime branch team headed by A.K. Singla succeeded in nabbing Shahrukh from Bareilly on Tuesday.
Shahrukh is a resident of street no. 5 of Arvind Nagar under Usmanpur police station of Jafrabad. His father, Shawar Pathan, who came to Delhi in 1985, has been to jail on charges of drug peddling, according to Delhi Police.
An officer of the SIT probing the Delhi riot cases told , "Police will try to get the remand of Shahrukh and will confront him with several questions. Why did he go to hide in Bareilly? Who gave him the pistol? Who instigated him to open fire during the riots? Who else in his family knew that he possessed a revolver?"
has learnt that Shahrukh and his family went seeking refuge to several relatives after the video went viral and the police were after them. The police went to his house on February 28 and found it locked.
Police is trying to find out who gave him shelter in Bareilly and how he managed to land in Bareilly. Police is also trying to pinpoint who gave the gun to Shahrukh.
Sources say that Shahrukh was given shelter in Bareilly by one of the friends of his father who is also allegedly a drug supplier.
(Sanjeev Kumar Singh Chauhan can be contacted at sanjeev.c@.in)
( With inputs from IANS )