BJP demands apology from Congress for its leaders remarks on Batla encounter

NEW DELHI: BJP today welcomed the life sentence given to Batla House case convict Shahzad Ahmed and demanded that Congress should apologise for remarks by its leaders that the encounter was fake which "demoralised" the police and security forces.

"BJP welcomes the court verdict in the Batla House encounter case. If we have to win the war against terror then strong punishment will have to be given to terrorists. We and the people wanted that Ahmed should be hanged as he had killed Inspector M C Sharma," party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.

Describing terrorism as ultimately a war against India, he said the crimes committed by terrorists are extraordinary crimes.

The main Opposition demanded that Congress should apologise to the nation as its leaders had made comments about the encounter which were demoralising for the police.

"They had raised doubts about the martyrdom of M C Sharma. Digvijay Singh had visited the homes of the terror suspects. Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid had even said that when he narrated the encounter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi she had cried," Javadekar said.

He alleged that these remarks and actions of Congress leaders were aimed at votebank politics.

"Everybody knows that the voice of Digvijay Singh is the voice of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and so Congress should apologise to the nation," he said.