Scars of the Batla House encounter in Jamia Nagar still hurt locals who witnessed the gunbattle on September 19, 2008. “The encounter will remain as a black spot on us, forever,” says a resident of the locality, on a day when Shahzad Ahmed was convicted.
On Thursday, residents of l-18 were visibly disappointed and the area wore a grim look. They also refuse to accept the court’s verdict and insist the encounter was “fake”. Claiming to have witnessed the entire incident, some residents said the police had cordoned off the place completely, leaving no way out for the accused.
“We are disappointed and we feel the court and Government have failed us. We were hopeful of justice, but nothing has happened. There needs to be a judicial inquiry,” says Amanatullah, who lives in the same area and is general secretary of the lok Jan Party.
“Police produced fake evidence in court. We were all present during the incident and police were everywhere. Everybody fails to understand how the accused fled the scene. The only way he could escape was to jump from a four-storey building, which would have killed him on the spot. Everything has been manipulated. The court didn’t ask why there is no witness from the locality. One (of us) could be a terrorist, not all. We are educated and have families,” he points out. Many gathered at the site after the verdict flashed on news channels.
Mohammad Waseem Ansari says the entire locality is still of the opinion that the encounter was fake. “The Government did not give a just judgement and joined the police instead, but we believed the court will. It is a scar on the face of our community. Our children have faced difficulties in getting jobs, admissions and even an autorickshaw does not want to come near this area, fearing ‘terrorism’,” Ansari says grimly.