An alleged Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative, who is an accused in 2008 Delhi serial blasts, appeared as defence witness in Batla House encounter trial on Friday and denied that any gunbattle had taken place between occupants of the flat and the police.
“We were caught at gun-point,” deposed Mohd Saif as he appeared through video conferencing from Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati jail, where he is lodged in connection with another blasts case, in defence of Shahzad Ahmed, the lone accused in the September 19 Batla House encounter.
In his deposition before additional sessions judge Rajender Kumar Shastri, he said, “It is wrong to say that apart from me, Mohd Atif Ameen, Mohd Sajid, Ariz Khan alias Junaid and Shahzad Ahmed were also present there (flat No.108, L-18, Batla House).
“It is wrong to say that they fired at police or one inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, who died and one head constable Balwant suffered injuries.”
Mohd Saif deposed that he along with Atif and Sajid was sleeping in a room from where they were caught on gun point.
“We were caught on gun point. I heard the sound of firing. I heard same sound of firing for some time. After that, they took me away from the spot with covered face to police station.”
Mohd Saif was one of the occupants of the flat in Jamia Nagar which was raided by the police during its probe in the September 13 serial blasts here.
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Mercury stays below 40°C
Age Correspondent
New Delhi, June 7
Delhiites got a reprieve from the searing heat as mercury dipped below the 40 degree-mark on Friday, a day after the capital was lashed by showers and thunderstorm. Humidity levels oscillated between 77 and 46 per cent.
The maximum temperature on Friday was recorded at a high of 39.3° Celsius, a notch below normal and four points down from Thursday’s 43.2° Celsius. The minimum temperature at 25.7° Celsius was also two degrees below normal.
However, parts of the city were lashed by dust storms in the evening.
The weatherman has predicted a partly cloudy sky on Saturday with possibility of light rain and thundershowers in some areas.