IM operative Ahmad who killed Inspector Mohan Chan Sharma at Batla house dies

There was a lot of controversy around the Batla House encounter with many calling it fake. The police argued as to why they would stage a fake encounter to kill one of their own. Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma had died in that encounter in 2008

New Delhi, Jan 28: Convicted Indian Mujahideen operative Shahzad Ahmad has died at a hospital in New Delhi on Saturday, while undergoing treatment.

Ahmad was convicted for his role in the Batla House case. He was convicted on the charges of murdering Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma.

He was also found guilty of attempting to cause the death of head constables Balwant Singh and Rajbir Singh, by firing at them.

In 2013, a court convicted Ahmad and sentenced him to life imprisonment. A fine of rs 95,000 was also imposed on him.

The Delhi Police had argued that the court award Ahmad death penalty as he had killed and injured a police officer on duty. He was also involved in the September 13 2008 blasts in Delhi in which 26 people had died and 133 injured.

The Batla House encounter took place when the police team had gone to arrest Ahmad and others in connection with the 2008 Delhi blasts case.

Of the five residing there, Atif Ameen and Mohd Said were killed in the encounter. Inspector Sharma too succumbed to injuries in the same encounter.

Sharma had been awarded the gallantry award Ashok Chakra posthumously for the September 18 2008 encounter.

While the prosecution had argued that there is clear evidence that Ahmad was present at the time of the encounter, his counsel questioned this.

The argument by the defence was that the police had resorted to firing first. The prosecution countered the argument and said that had the police fired first, then both persons would have fallen down immediately after being injured and would have been in no position to fire at the police.

The investigations found that the two terrorists inside the house had fired first and it was the police who returned the fire. The cops only returned the fire after Sharma and and the other police personnel Balwant Singh were first hit by bullets. The police had even asked as to why they would stage a fake encounter to kill their own.

Following the controversy over the genuine nature of the encounter, the National Human Rights Commission in a report gave the police a clean chit. The same was also accepted by the Supreme Court of India.