A teacher of a school affiliated to the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) was reportedly shot dead by unidentified gunmen on the university campus on Wednesday night. The incident took place when the victim, identified as Rao Danish Ali, was out on a walk at around 9pm, university proctor Professor Mohd Wasim Ali said, adding that Danish was shot in the head.
“Around 9 pm, we received information that there had been a shooting near the library and that a man had been injured and was being taken for medical treatment…We learned that the man who had been shot has been identified as Rao Danish Ali and he was a teacher at the ABK School of the university,” the proctor told news agency ANI.
On Wednesday night, Danish was walking near the Kennedy Auditorium with two of his colleagues when some masked men accosted him and fired at him from point-blank range after briefly talking to him, the proctor was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. He collapsed on the spot and was rushed to the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival, Mohammad Waseem Ali said.
The incident occurred when Danish had gone to the AMU canteen for tea, which was part of his daily routine, he said.
Danish reportedly taught computer science at the ABK High School on campus for 11 years. The gunmen reportedly stopped them at 8.50 pm and threatened them with pistols, following which Rao was shot at least three times.
Before shooting, one gunman reportedly told Danish, “You don’t know me yet, now you will,” , NDTV reported. He was was taken to the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College but died on arrival. Six police teams have reportedly been formed to probe the case.
Though the shooting was captured on CCTV cameras installed near the canteen, the footage was unclear due to darkness and fog, the proctor said.
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Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Neeraj Kumar, along with police personnel, rushed to the spot and an alert was issued to trace the assailants.
Kumar told reporters late Wednesday night that police have spoken to the victim’s family and colleagues to ascertain the motive behind the killing.
Police are scanning CCTV footage from the surrounding areas to track the movement of the attackers, he said.
With inputs from agencies
