Batla House shootout: Victims demand death for accused

Over 50 people gathered outside the Saket court complex here Monday and demanded the death penalty for the lone convict and Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative who allegedly shot dead a Delhi Police office during the Batla House shootout in 2008.

The shootout between a Delhi Police Special Cell team and alleged IM operatives occurred Sep 19, 2008, days after serial blasts rocked the national capital Sep 13.

Residents of Paharganj, where one of the blasts took place, demanded death for IM operative Shahzad Ahmad.

A court in the complex was to hear arguments on quantum of sentence to given be to Ahmad.

Additional Sessions Judge Rajender Kumar Shastri, who convicted the man from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh for killing Delhi Police Special Cell Inspector M.C. Sharma during the shootout, will give the verdict Tuesday.

Of the Paharganj residents, some had lost family members or friends in the blasts, while others had helped with rescue efforts to get the injured people to hospitals.

Security was tightened outside the court complex and outside the courtroom. Police personnel equipped with teargas shells were deployed.

Ahmad was said to be present in house number L-8 in Jamia Nagar in south Delhi where the shootout took place.

The court July 25 held Ahmad guilty of assaulting police officials and obstructing them from doing their duty.

He was convicted of offences that included murder and attempt to murder, which carry a death penalty as the maximum sentence.

The blasts took place in Karol Bagh, Connaught Place, Barakhamba Road, Greater Kailash and the vicinity of India Gate, leaving over 26 people killed and over 133 injured.