New Delhi:

An unidentified man opened fire at people protesting the citizenship law near the Jamia Millia Islamia university in Delhi this afternoon, causing chaos and panic in the area. A student of the university has been injured.

In a video, the man, wearing a black jacket and a pair of white trousers, can be seen walking on a road, waving a gun as he shouts “Yeh lo aazadi (here’s your freedom)” at the protesters.

The man has been arrested by the police after he was overpowered.

“We were sitting near the barricades. The man sudden erupted and opened fire… He was definitely not one of us. He was from outside,” Jamia student Aamna Asif, who witnessed the terrifying incident, told NDTV.

The student who was shot at has been identified as Shadaab and was seen being taken away, as he walked with his hands in blood. He has been taken to the trauma centre of the All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

The locality has been heavily barricaded after the firing and traffic has been diverted in all the roads near the area.

Violence broke out at Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia university last month during a protest against the citizenship law; the police were accused of using excessive force on students. Earlier this month, masked goons attacked students and teachers at JNU, triggering nationwide outrage and protests.

Today, hundreds of women protesting at Shaheen Bagh, not far from Jamia, for around six weeks were denied permission by Delhi Police to take out a march from Jamia Millia Islamia to Rajghat, Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial. The protesters said that they had planned a peaceful march to the Rajghat on the death anniversary of the Mahatma Gandhi.

Thousands, including students in multiple cities and towns across the country, have taken to the streets since last month to protest the new citizenship law that they say discriminates against the minority Muslim community.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, for the first time, makes religion the test of citizenship in India. The government says it will help minorities from three Muslim-dominated countries to get citizenship if they fled to India because of religious persecution. Critics say it is designed to discriminate against Muslims and violates the secular principles of the constitution.