In this article, we will try to analyze the highly controversial Batla House encounter case without any personal opinion. The various facts will be covered in this article attached to the Batla House Encounter Case.
We have researched a lot to share the story behind the Batla House timeline and Batla house encounter. Taking this as the basis, media houses and people raised questions about the role of the Police in the entire encounter.
Introduction to Batla House Encounter Case
Controversy is not a new thing in our country. Sometimes there is controversy about the poster of a film and sometimes the statement of the politician becomes controversial. But in the midst of all these controversies, when the police controversies took place, they had a long history of their own. Whether it happened on 26th Nov 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case or the Vikas Dubay encounter occurred on 10th July 2020. All these encounter cases have left their mark on our hearts and minds. But the encounter case is one such case in this list that has been the most controversial. The name of the case is “Batla House Encounter Case“.
The Batla House encounter case by Delhi Police attracted heated debate and controversies across the whole country. On one side Delhi Police team was tight, and on the other hand, there were five such people some were telling Terrorists of Indian Mujahideen and some were ordinary students of Jamia University. Batla House’s encounter case caught much attention in the political corridor, including the general public, media channels, and newspapers.
Background of the Case
The Highly controversial ” Batla House encounter” happened on 19 September 2008 in New Delhi. On 13 September 2008, India’s capital New Delhi felt the burn of back-to-back 5 serial bomb blasts in 3 different places. The first blast took place in Delhi’s Ghaffar Market. Ammonium nitrate-based bomb kept in the car killed 20 people and more than 30 people were badly injured. The second blast took place near Gopal das Bhavan. The third blast took place in Connaught Place’s newly constructed central park. Rest two blasts took place in Greater Kailash. Four more bombs were found in Delhi which were defused in time.
According to the report by IBN, 30 people died and more than a hundred people were badly injured. Moreover, Indian Mujahideen took responsibility for these serial bomb blasts in Delhi through an email.
In the primary investigation, Delhi police arrested Abdul Qureshi and Qayamuddin, including four others, whose connections were said to be with the SIMI cell of Indian Mujahideen.
What happened on 19 September 2008?
The Special Cell of Delhi Police, quoting its sources, got information that some people associated with the bomb blast are hiding in the Batla House of Jamia Nagar. The 7-member team of Delhi Police located in Lodhi Colony, 15 km away, left for Jamia Nagar. People hiding in Batla House opened fire on Delhi Police. According to the commissioner, eight rounds were fired from inside the flat in retaliation the police also fired 22 rounds. The intelligence cell of Delhi Police informed that shots were being fired on the upper floor of building number L 18 of Batla house. Two people were killed there by Delhi Police and two managed to escape.
As soon as the news of this encounter came, the atmosphere got heated in the country. On one hand, the local resident of Batla House, the student of Jamia University, and many eminent people of the country started raising questions about the encounter at Batla House. The Batla House incident attracted debates and controversies, and the demise of sub-inspector Mohan Chand Sharma further fueled the debate. many people feel this is a fake encounter case.
Inquiry of the Batala House Encounter Case
The fire of proper inquiry into the case has now started reaching other parts of the country as well. Political and non-political organizations of the country jumped into the field, taking their own views.
Regarding the demand for an independent inquiry, the NGO ” act now for harmony and democracy” has moved the Delhi High Court seeking an inquiry by the National Human Right Commission on the role of the Delhi Police in the Batla House encounter. Delhi High Court accept this case on 21st May 2009 and ordered National Human Right Commission to submit its report within two months. On 22nd July 2009, Commission submitted a report to Delhi High Court, where a clean chit was given to Delhi police, considering all the questions raised as baseless.
As time passed, different aspects related to this encounter started coming to the fore. Media houses, newspapers, and individual thinkers started placing theories related to the Batla House’s encounters in front of the people. Moreover, some media houses have also run such stories, where the connection of police shots on Mohan Chand Sharma got established with his own team members. However, the allegations were later proved to be false.
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Who were in Batla House during the Operation?
Some people say that four people were present in the flat of Batla House on that day, while some claim to be 7 people. But, it has become so clear about the five people we are going to talk about. These 5 people were residents of Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh and all were 17 to 25 years old.
- Atif Amin (25-year-old)
- Mohammad Sajid (17-year-old)
- Mohammad Saif (23-year-old)
- Shahzad Ahmed
- Ariz Khan
What are the Controversies of the Batla House Encounter Case?
- The police gave changing statements regarding their visits to flat number 108 which raise questions in people’s minds.
- Bullet marks on the skull of Atif Amin and Mohammad Sajid’s bodies raised questions about the police action.
- The third allegation, local residents of Batla House and students of Jamia Millia Islamia university. The people who had an encounter in the 108 flat were not terrorists but ordinary students.
- Delhi Police or any other Investigation Agency did not enquire much about the suspects from neighbors which raises doubt.
- The next allegations say that when Special Cell arrived at Jamia Nagar, why did they not inform the local police?
- People believing the encounter to be fake claimed that there is only one getting into the building but police said there are two gates from which Shahzad Ahmed & Ariz Khan escaped.
- The police team had covered the entire area, how did the two tourists escape? Moreover, people even claimed that Sub Inspector Mohan Chand was shot by the police personnel only not by the people of the flat.
Conclusion
Allegiances kept this case in the form of debate for years. Moreover, Delhi Police did not stop the search for 2 terrorists in spite of several allegations leveled by Newspapers and Media. Further, Shahzad Ahmed was arrested in 2010 and Ariz Khan’s search lasted for 10 years. In Feb 2018, Ariz Khan was arrested at Banbasa Border point. Additionally, Shahzad Ahmed was sentenced to life imprisonment on the charges of murder and attempt to murder.
On 21 March 2021, the Delhi court sentenced Ariz Khan to the death sentence in the murder case of Sub Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma. Hence, the Delhi Court judgment in favor of the Delhi police convicted the suspected terrorist. The court believed that documents given by Delhi Police were true, which prove that accused caught on 19 September 2008 were terrorists. After the verdict of the Delhi court, a lot of clarity has come to the fore regarding the Batla House Encounter case.
