Delhi riots: Man who pointed gun at cops gets warm welcome

Shahrukh Pathan, whose photograph of pointing a gun at an unarmed policeman during the communal riots in Northeast Delhi went viral, received a grand welcome during a visit to his home on parole, according to a video.

The footage, which has gone viral on social media, purportedly shows Pathan being cheered by a huge crowd as he walks through a lane in the presence of security personnel to meet his ailing father on Monday.

A senior jail officer said Pathan was sent to his home by a court order on a four-hour custody parole.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kapil Mishra posted the video on his Twitter account and rued that a person who pointed a gun at the police was being made a hero.

'The person who pointed a gun at the police is being made a hero. In Delhi, several places have become mini-Pakistans. This mentality has become Delhi's and the country's enemy. I want to clearly say that we Delhiites are not afraid of them and this mentality will be crushed in Delhi,' Mishra tweeted in Hindi along with the video.

In the photograph that went viral a couple of years ago, Pathan could be seen pointing his country-made pistol at a policeman on the Jaffrabad-Maujpur road. He also allegedly fired several rounds.

The violence, which erupted on February 23, 2020, in Jafrabad, Maujpur, Babarpur, Chand Bagh, Shiv Vihar, Bhajan Pura, Yamuna Vihar and Mustafabad areas of northeast Delhi claimed at least 42 lives and left over 200 injured.