Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: Welcoming a court`s verdict which convicted the lone accused and Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative Shahzad Ahmad in the 2008 Batla House shootout, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday sought an apology from Digvijay Singh.
Additional Sessions Judge Rajender Kumar Shastri today convicted Ahmad for killing Delhi Police special cell inspector Mohan Chand Sharma.
The Congress general secretary had claimed that the Batla House encounter was fake.
The BJP has demanded an apology from Digvijay Singh for demoralising security forces and raising doubts on the martyrdom of MC Sharma.
Digvijay Singh should admit his mistake, BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi said.
"Congress must apologise for politicising Batla encounter case as Digvijay does not speak `off the cuff`. He speaks for #Sonia & #Rahul Gandhi," tweeted BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar.
BJP Deputy Leader in the Rajya Sabha Ravi Shankar Prasad, meanwhile, said: "It was a bizarre situation. While the government honoured late inspector MC Sharma for bravery, senior Congress leaders and functionaries of the ruling dispensation had raised questions on the veracity of the encounter".
He said the verdict will go a long way in boosting the morale of security personnel fighting terror.
Prasad said with the court convicting lone suspected IM operative Shahzad Ahmed for the crime, "the soul of inspector Sharma, killed in the encounter, will now rest in peace".
Epressing relief, Prasad also said that the verdict proved the veracity of the encounter.
Underlining that the threat of terrorism from within and outside is real, the BJP spokesperson hailed the services provided by security fores and policemen in providing security to the countrymen.
The shootout had sparked a controversy with Congress leader Digvijay Singh claiming that it was fake, but his party had swiftly distanced itself from his remarks.
The Samjwadi Party too had demanded a judicial probe but the then Home Minister P Chidambaram asserted that the encounter was genuine and there was no scope to reopen the matter.
(With PTI inputs)
