Union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday lashed out at West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee who he said cast serious doubt over the authenticity of Batla House incident. The minister's remarks came a day after a Delhi court found accused Ariz Khan guilty of killing Delhi Police cops, along with his accomplices.
"The Samajwadi Party, BSP, Congress, Left and Mamata Banerjee made the Batla House incident a national issue. What does this mean? Will our fight against terrorism be weakened for votes?" Prasad said at a press conference at BJP headquarters in Delhi.
"Today, after more than 100 people testified and scientific and medical evidence led to the conviction of a big terrorist in the case, will these parties apologise?" he further questioned.
Also Watch: Ariz Khan convicted in Batla House encounter case
He also targeted Congress president Sonia Gandhi. "You might have listened to Salman Khurshid say that Sonia Gandhi had tears in her eyes when she got to know that two terrorists have been killed," news agency ANI quoted Prasad as saying.
The minister said there was a "conscious, deliberate and consistent attempt" to cast serious doubt over the authenticity of Batla House incident.
{{/usCountry}}The minister said there was a "conscious, deliberate and consistent attempt" to cast serious doubt over the authenticity of Batla House incident.
{{/usCountry}}A Delhi court on Monday convicted Ariz Khan, who was arrested in February 2018 in connection with the 2008 Batla House encounter case. The court said that Khan and others had intentionally murdered Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, an encounter expert, and caused injury to Head Constable Balwant Singh and Rajbir Singh.
Khan is allegedly associated with the terror outfit Indian Mujahideen. He was arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police after a decade of being on the run.
According to Delhi Police, Khan was at the spot during the encounter but managed to escape.