2008 Delhi encounter is no dead matter

Parikshit Luthra
CNN-IBN

New Delhi: The country's human rights watchdog has absolved the police in the Batla House encounter in Delhi but the controversy over the death of two alleged terrorists refuses to end.

Alleged Indian Mujahideen militants Mohammed Atif Ameen and Mohammed Sajid were killed in a gunfight with the police at Batla House in Jamia Nagar on September 19, 2008, five days after serial bomb blasts in Delhi.

Friends and relatives of the dead men allege police faked the encounter. Now, the post mortem report--accessed by activists with the help of a Right to Information (RTI) Act application--on the two men raises nagging questions about the encounter.

The post mortem report says that Sajid had three gunshot wounds on the top of his head and one on his right shoulder.

Ameen had 10 bullet entry wounds--eight of which were on his back. He also had multiple abrasions on his lower back.

Both men had injuries from a blunt object and the reason for these wounds hasn’t been satisfactorily explained.

Manisha Sethi, a member of the Jamia Solidarity Teacher's Association, alleges Ameen and Sajid were shot dead in cold blood.

"In which natural crossfire would have an instance where these two boys don't sustain any injuries in the front, "said Manisha Sethi.

The RTI application for the post mortem report was filed Jamia Milia Islamia University student Afroz Alam, one of the several people who allege that the authorities are not interested in investigating the encounter.

"Things which should have been with us in 30 days...takes two years. Most of the hearing is over but applicanst don't get a copy of it. It raises question on the role of CIC and also the Delhi Police," said Afroz Alam.

The Delhi Police refused to comment on camera about the post mortem report but senior officials told CNN-IBN that that each and every aspect of the encounter had been explained to the courts and to the National Human Rights Commission, which gave them a clean chit last year.

Human rights activists though say they will use the post mortem report and the Right to Information (Act) to renew their demand for a judicial probe into the encounter.