‘If Shaheen Bagh shooter belongs to AAP…’

Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said if the person who opened fire at the anti-CAA protest site in Shaheen Bagh belonged to his party, he should be given a “double punishment”.

Kejriwal told reporters that there should be no compromise on national security.

“I want to urge (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah not to compromise on national security,” he said.

Whoever is responsible for jeopardising law and order should be given a strict punishment, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief added.

Police on Tuesday said Kapil Baisala, who opened fired at the Shaheen Bagh protest site last week, was a member of the AAP, sparking a war of words between the Kejriwal-led party and the BJP.

“I am not aware of his (Baisala’s) ties with any political party. If he is even remotely related to the AAP, he should be given a double punishment. If he deserves 10 years in jail, he should be given a 20-year jail term. There should not be any compromise on national security.

“I also want to ask the Union home minister not to do politics with national security,” Kejriwal said.

“Just 48 hours before the Assembly polls, if you (Shah) are sending police officers for a press conference, it exposes your ill-intent. People are not fools, they understand your intention,” he added.

Shah should send Baisala to jail irrespective of whether he belonged to the AAP, BJP, Congress or any political party, the chief minister said.

Baisala and his father joined the AAP in early 2019, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Rajesh Deo said on Tuesday.

Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh wondered on whose directions the Delhi Police was accusing his party.

“Before the police revealed it (Baisala being an AAP member), how did Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari come to know about it,” he asked and accused the police of maligning the Kejriwal-led party.