By IANS,
New Delhi : The BJP Thursday said the verdict in the 2008 Batla House shootout here will go a long way in boosting the morale of the security forces fighting terror.
“There was a consistent campaign by several political parties, including the Congress, to declare it (shootout) fake… this verdict will go a long way in upholding the morale of those police officers fighting terror,” Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told Times Now.
He said it was bizarre that the government presented Ashok Chakra to Delhi Police Special Cell inspector M.C. Sharma who lost his life in the shootout and the very next day the Congress leaders started raising doubts over the veracity of the incident.
“It was a sinister campaign… this (verdict) would be a closure… the soul of the brave police officer would rest in peace today,” he said.
A Delhi court Thursday convicted the lone accused and Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative Shahzad Ahmad for killing Sharma in the shootout.
Ahmad was one of the occupants of a flat that was raided by police in south Delhi’s Batla House neighbourhood in Jamia Nagar area Sep 19, 2008, six days after serial blasts in the city, the prosecution said.
Ahmad, along with another accused Junaid, had jumped off the balcony and fled after firing at police, the prosecution said.
The IM operatives were allegedly involved in the Sep 13, 2008, serial blasts at Karol Bagh, Connaught Place, Greater Kailash and India Gate in which 26 people were killed and 133 others injured.