Delhi violence: Court extends police custody of Shahrukh by three days

A Delhi court on Saturday allowed police three more days' custodial interrogation of Shahrukh Pathan, who allegedly pointed a gun at a police head constable during the recent communal violence in the national capital's northeast area.

Duty Magistrate Vijay Shri Rathore extended Pathan's police custody after he was produced before the judge at the end of his four-day remand period amidst high security late in the evening, a lawyer associated with the case said.

Pathan, 23, whose picture showing him pointing a gun at unarmed Delhi Police head constable Deepak Dahia during the communal riots went viral on social media, was arrested on Tuesday from Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district.

Police have registered a case against him under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Arms Act. His four-day police custody ended on Saturday, officials said.

On Friday, the pistol that he pointed at a police official during the communal violence was recovered from his house.

After opening fire, he kept the pistol at home and fled from the city in a car, police said. In the viral video, Pathan, a resident of northeast Delhi's Ghonda, could be seen pointing his pistol at the policeman on the Jaffrabad-Maujpur road on February 24.

Police said after seeing himself on news channels following the incident, Pathan changed his clothes and fled to Punjab. He then moved to Bareilly in UP before hiding at a friend's house in Shamli in the state.

The good quality semi-automatic pistol used by Pathan was bought from Munger in Bihar, according to police. A college dropout, Pathan was interested in body building and modelling. He used to make TikTok videos. He owns a shop and a socks manufacturing factory in Ghonda.