Delhi on alert after Batla House verdict

The national capital was put on a high alert on Thursday as a court gave its verdict in the 2008 Batla House shootout in which an Indian Mujahideen operative was convicted for killing a Delhi Police inspector.

The national capital was put on a high alert on Thursday as a court gave its verdict in the 2008 Batla House shootout in which an Indian Mujahideen operative was convicted for killing a Delhi Police inspector.

Police commissioner Neeraj Kumar said, "We are on a high alert and this will carry on at least till the Independence Day. We have enough manpower. We are on the highest level of alert."

Replying to a question over the genuineness of the shootout in Batla House neighbourhood in south Delhi, the city police chief said the National Human Rights Commission conducted an inquiry on the court's direction and found the shootout to be genuine.

"Indeed, it's a very unique and independent operation. It is a matter of great pride for the Delhi Police after the court confirmed that the Batla House encounter was not fake," said Neeraj Kumar.

"We learn a lesson from every encounter," he said.

Additional sessions judge Rajender Kumar Shastri convicted IM terror group's operative Shahzad Ahmad for killing inspector MC Sharma and fixed July 29 for arguments on sentencing.

Ahmad, from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, was said to be present in a flat in Batla House when the shootout took place.

The September 19, 2008, exchange of fire took place between a seven-member Delhi Police special cell team, led by Sharma, and suspected Indian Mujahideen terrorists, who were allegedly involved in the September 13, 2008, serial blasts in Delhi that killed 26 people.