Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma lost his life in the Batla House shootout of 2008.
New Delhi:
A local court today convicted Indian Mujahideen terrorist Ariz Khan in the case of the 2008 Batla House shootout which he had escaped. His sentencing has been scheduled for next Monday. The encounter between the Delhi police and a bunch of terrorists holed up in the Okhla area of the national capital led to the death of one police officer while two others sustained injuries. He is also the alleged mastermind of the 2008 serial blasts across Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh.
In 2013, one Shahzad Ahmed, who, too, had escaped the Batla House shootout with Khan, was convicted and sentenced. Two of their accomplices, Atif Amin and Mohammed Sajid, were killed in the incident. A third, Mohammed Saif, was arrested from the location. Delhi police Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma lost his life while two other officers were injured.
Khan, a native of Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, was arrested by the Delhi police’s Special Cell in February 2018.
The multiple bombings that rocked cities like Jaipur and Ahmedabad, apart from the national capital itself, in 2008 saw 165 people losing their lives and over 500 injured in all. A reward of Rs 15 lakh had been declared on him, besides an Interpol Red Corner Notice.
A BTech graduate from Muzaffaranagar’s SD College, Khan is an explosives expert. He was inculcated into the jihadi network by Atif Amin, who died in the Delhi shootout. After the 2008 blasts, he had shifted his base to Nepal and acquired a Nepal passport under the name Salim. He opened a restaurant there and also taught students.
During his Nepal days, he came in contact with Riyaz Bhatkal who then inspired him to relaunch Indian Mujahideen. In 2014, he made a visit to Saudi Arabia, looking to strengthen the terror organisation, and interacted with many IM and Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) personnel.
In 2017, Khan returned from Saudi Arabia to lay the groundwork for IM’s revival. He was visiting India on February 13, 2018, when he was arrested at the Banbasa border point between India and Nepal. The police got whiff of his plans through SIMI activist Abdul Suhan who had been arrested a month earlier.