JOIN US'We are ready for any inquiry'
A day after a city court convicted the suspected Indian Mujahideen member Shahzad Ahmad, accused of killing a police officer during the Batla House encounter, Delhi Police chief made it clear on Friday that his team was right from the beginning and there was nothing to hide.
When asked about Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh’s proclamation after the court judgement that the encounter was fake and there must be a judicial inquiry into the matter, Delhi police commissioner Neeraj Kumar said the government can get any number of inquiries it wants to be done in this case as they have no objection.
“There have been inquiries by National Human Rights Commission, trial court, high court and the Supreme Court already. Anybody, who wants to get any other inquiry, can get it done,” said Kumar.
He said what the Delhi police did was to uphold the truth and whatever happened was done in good faith. “It was done for the betterment of the country and the city as well. We are not shying away from any inquiry,” he said.
The city court convicted Shahzad on Thursday for killing Delhi Police special cell’s inspector M C Sharma in the 2008 Batla House encounter.
Shahzad Ahmad, who was arrested at his village Khalispur in Azamgarh on February 1, 2010, was accused of shooting police officials along with his associates — Atif Ameen, Mohammad Sajid and Ariz Khan alias Junaid — when police went to his residence at L-18, Batla House in Jamia Nagar on September 19, 2008 to arrest them.
While Shahzad Ahmad and Ariz Khan managed to flee, Atif Ameen and Mohd Sajid were killed in the shootout. Mohammad Saif, who was also in the house, surrendered before the police after the firing stopped.
On September 19, six days after the serial bomb blasts rocked the capital, killing 26 persons and injuring 133 others, a team of special cell led by inspector Mohan Chand Sharma received a tip-off that the suspected IM members were hiding at L-18, Batla House.
When he reached to arrest them, the occupants of the flat, including Shahzad Ahmad fired at the police team.
Sharma succumbed to the bullet injuries sustained during the gunbattle while head constable Balwant was injured.
Ariz Khan is still absconding and Mohammad Saif is lodged in Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad in connection with the serial blasts of July 26, 2008 in Gujarat.