Batla Encounter – Digvijaysingh’s claims baseless, Say Chidambaram

Dismissing Congress leader Digvijay Singh’s claim that the Batla House encounter was “fake”, Home Minister P Chidambaram today said the 2008 gun fight between security forces and terrorists in Delhi was indeed genuine and there was no scope for reopening the case.

“After looking into the matter, after I took over as Home Minister, we came to the conclusion that the encounter was a genuine encounter,” he said at a press conference here.

The Home Minister was responding to Singh’s remarks in Azamgarh yesterday when he had said that he always believed that the Batla House encounter was “fake” and had tried to get Government and the Home Ministry to investigate the matter but could not succeed.

“The Prime Minister and the Home Minister were of the view that the encounter was true. That’s why I did not press it further,” Singh had said.

The Home Minister said that it was the view of Digvijay Singh from the very beginning and he (Chidambaram) respected his (Singh’s) view.

“But every authority who has looked into it (the case), has agreed that it was a genuine encounter. So, while there is a difference of opinion, I think the matter rests where it stands today. I don’t think there is any scope for reopening that matter,” he said.

The encounter on September 19, 2008, at Batla House led to the killing of Delhi Police Inspector Mohan Chandra Sharma and two Indian Mujahideen terrorist while two other IM terrorists were arrested and another fled from the scene.

Responses