A Delhi court has convicted a suspected Indian Mujahideen(IM) member, Shahzad Ahmed for his complicity in the Batla House encounter at Jamia Nagar in Delhi. It is the first judicial pronouncement on the incident which took place on September 19, 2008. This should blow away the shroud of conspiracy about the occurrence. There was a violent shootout at the address a week after the city was hit by five serial blasts. The police had been trying to collect evidence to nail the IM for its complicity in the crime. The investigation also covered similar attacks in Jaipur, Varanasi, Ahmedabad and other cities. A phone call led the police to Batla House and in the encounter an Inspector of Police as well as two IM operatives had been killed. Shahzad Ahmed was arrested. This version was contested by some civic society groups. It was even said that the Police Inspector was killed by his own colleagues. It was comparable to the Ishrat Jahan encounter which allegedly involved the Congress and the BJP. The Congress was divided and Digvijay Singh wanted a judicial probe. The Delhi High Court asked the NHRC to examine the evidence but the findings on the examination of the wounds ruled out a judicial enquiry. The incident however continued to cast a shadow and had an impact on the UP election campaign in 2012
The Delhi Court judgment should tear into shreds misleading rumours about the chain of tragic events. Of course, there will be an appeal against that lower court judgment. But the judicial process alone will finally establish the truth. There is a need to track down the Indian Mujahideen and remove the confusion caused by the speculation about whether the IM really exists.
