An alleged Indian Mujahideen operative and the lone suspect facing trial in the 2008 Batla House encounter case moved a plea requesting the judge to visit the flat from whose balcony the cops claimed he had escaped after the gunfight.
The prosecution in its argument before additional sessions judge Rajender Kumar Shastri said it has sufficient circumstantial evidence and phone records to prove that accused, Shahzad, was present in the Jamia Nagar flat in Batla House and was among those who fired at the police party. The prosecution said Shahzad, along with another accused Junaid, had jumped off the balcony and fled after firing at the police party during the September 19 Batla House encounter. At this, Shahzad’s counsel moved an application seeking permission to visit the spot in Jamia Nagar to see if it was possible for anyone to jump off the balcony. He also claimed that Shahzad was not at the flat and has been implicated in the case.
The prosecution, in its final argument, rebutted Shahzad’s claim that he was kidnapped from his village Khalispur in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh. The police also said the call detail records show that Shazad was in regular conversation with one of the occupants of the flat. The prosecution said if Shahzad was not residing in the flat, then his father must have been living there as the number which was saved in the mobile phone of the deceased IM man was found to be registered in Shahzad’s father’s name. The court has now fixed the matter for July 8 for hearing the final arguments on behalf of Shahzad.
Shazad is said to be one of the occupants of the flat in Jamia Nagar where the encounter took place on September 19, 2008.