The court said on 8 March that it “duly proved that Ariz Khan and his accomplices killed the police officer and opened fire on the police officer”.
A Delhi court on Monday awarded death sentence to Ariz Khan for the murder of Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, who died in 2008 by a police team raiding Delhi’s Batla House, calling the crime a “rarest case”.
“The convict (Khan) has renounced his right to live because of his abominable act. After mitigating the circumstances against the additional circumstances, it is concluded that this is a rare case where the convicts are entitled to maximum punishment under the law, ”said Additional Sessions Judge Sandeep Yadav.
Read also: Batla House encounter: Court convicts ‘IM operative’
The judge said, “The most appropriate punishment for a convict like Ariz Khan would be the death penalty.”
The Special Cell of Delhi Police arrested Khan on the Indo-Nepal border on February 13, 2018, almost a decade later.
Read also: Fake News, Rumors Label 2008 Batla House Encounter Staged: Former IPS Officer Karnal Singh
Two suspected Indian Mujahideen (IM) militants were killed and two were arrested when a team from the Special Cell raided the whereabouts of the bombing suspects at Batla House on 19 September 2008. Khan and another alleged IM operative Shahzad were also present at the hideout. But was able to escape.
“It has been proved on record that the convict, along with his accomplices, fires police officers on duty without any provocation. It is pertinent to mention here that the police team led by the deceased Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma went to the incident site to apprehend the people involved in the Delhi blast cases.
Read also: Batla encounter case: chronology of events
The court said, “The police officers had no intention of killing the occupants of the flat,” evident from the fact that the deceased Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, who was leading the police team, knocked on the flat and revealed. Identity is saying ‘Darwaja open police“
The court highlighted that some members of the advance team were not even carrying weapons and the police officers had taken up fellow Mo. Said, who had locked himself inside the bathroom and surrendered to the police officers.
Therefore, it is clear that while blaming Arij Khan, his colleagues instinctively opened fire on the police officers without any challenge, and in doing so killed one of the police officers who carried out the raid.
He said, “The crime proved against the accused is not an ordinary action but a crime against the state.” Saying that the criminal commits the crime like a dreaded and well trained terrorist who does not do any kind of lobbying, ”the court said.
It also reminded that deadly weapons such as the AK-47 and two pistols were retrieved from the flat where the shoot out took place.
The court said, “Given the nature of the catastrophe that these weapons can produce, it would be safe to conclude that these weapons were kept in flats to engage in terrorist and antisocial activities.”
The court also imposed a total fine of Rs 11 lakh on Khan out of which 10 10 lakh will be released as compensation to the wife of the deceased officer.
In July 2013, a trial court sentenced IM terrorist Shehzad Ahmed to life in the Batla House encounter case. His appeal against the trial court’s decision is pending in the High Court.
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