New Delhi: Delhi Police on Tuesday concluded final arguments in the 2008 Batla House encounter case while the lone suspected Indian Mujahideen operative facing trial moved a plea to visit the flat from whose balcony the cops claimed he had escaped after the gunbattle.
In its final arguments before Additional Sessions Judge Rajender Kumar Shastri, the prosecution said it has sufficient circumstantial evidence and phone records to prove that accused Shahzad was present in the Jamia Nagar flat in Batla House and was among those who fired at the police party leading to the death of inspector MC Sharma.
The prosecution said Shahzad, along with another accused Junaid, had jumped off the balcony and fled after firing at the police party during the September 19 Batla House encounter.
At this, Shahzad`s counsel moved an application seeking permission to visit the spot in Jamia Nagar to see if it was possible for anyone to jump off the balcony. He also claimed that Shahzad was not at the flat and has been implicated in the case.
The prosecution, in its final argument, rebutted Shahzad`s claim that neither was he present in the flat with other associates nor had he fired at the raiding party and also that he was kidnapped from his village Khalispur in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh.
Prosecution said the police personnel who were members of the raiding party have identified Shahzad as one of the occupants of the flat who fired at the raiding team and then escaped with another associate.
Police also said the call detail records show that Shazad was in regular conversation with one of the occupants of the flat, an alleged IM terrorist named Atif who was killed in the encounter.
The prosecution said if Shahzad was not residing in the flat, then his father must have been living there as the number which was saved in the mobile phone of the deceased IM man was found to be registered in Shahzad`s father`s name.
The court has now fixed the matter for July 8 for hearing the final arguments on behalf of Shahzad.
Shazad is said to be one of the occupants of the flat in Jamia Nagar where the encounter took place on September 19, 2008 between officers of the Special Cell of Delhi Police and the alleged IM terrorists said to be involved in the September 13, 2008 serial blasts.
Shahzad had in his statement denied he was in the flat in Batla House with other associates or had fired at the raiding party including inspector MC Sharma.
Mohd Saif and Zeeshan, both accused in the 2008 serial blasts case, were cited as defence witness by Shahzad. Mohd Saif, who was also present at the flat and is said to have surrendered, claimed that they were they were arrested at gunpoint by police personnel and denied that any encounter had taken place.
According to the charge sheet, Mohd Saif was also present in the flat in which the encounter took place on September 19, 2008 between officers of the Special Cell of Delhi Police and the alleged Indian Mujahideen terrorists.
The police team is said to have reached the flat during its probe in the 2008 Delhi serial blasts where a series of explosions at Karol Bagh, Connaught Place, Greater Kailash and India Gate left 26 dead and 133 injured.
Shahzad had allegedly escaped from the flat in Jamia Nagar during the encounter. The charge sheet says Mohd Saif had surrendered peacefully and had disclosed the names of the escapees as Shahzad and Junaid. While Shahzad was arrested later, Junaid was declared a proclaimed offender.
Other accused named in the charge sheet are Mohd Atif Ameen alias Bashir and Mohd Sajid. Both of them were shot dead in the encounter.
PTI
