By DN Verma

The reports have come in plenty that several Congress leaders and activists of some other ‘secular parties’ have visited and helped terrorists and their families. There was the report that soon after the Delhi shoot-out at Jamia Nagar (Batla House) where an award winner Police Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma also died, some Congress and other politicians visited the homes of the terrorists that were killed in the shoot-out.

A few months earlier, the notoriously controversial politician, Lalu Prasad had also visited families of some militants. To my knowledge, these political celebrities did not have any time to visit and console, help and support the families of victims.

Some Congress leaders had also doubted that it was a ‘real’ gun battle or merely a fake encounter. It was a disgraceful act on the part of those who doubted and cast aspersions on the ‘Shaheed’ Inspector Sharma despite the fact that even the Human Rights Organization had given its opinion confirming it was a real encounter and suspected terrorists were shot dead.

Among those who had directly or indirectly doubted the encounter are the senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh who the other day visited the families of killed terrorists in a UP town; he also had expressed his doubts about the encounter. He said the photo of one of the killed terrorists shows that he was hit in the head which doesn’t happen in an encounter. After scathing criticism, he hastened to clarify that he had no experience about investigating encounters and his opinion was not a definitive proof of anything that had happened.

Now another shocking news is that one of the captured terrorists has disclosed that he was helped by politicians and lawmakers to escape, flee and hide. According to media reports, the suspect, Shahzad Alam alias Pappu, reported to be a member of the ‘Indian Mujahideen’ arrested for his role in the 2008 serial blasts in the national capital, is said to have told the Police that he and other module members, including their chief Atif Amin, were to go to Pakistan in 2009 to receive training and meet IM founder Amir Reza Khan.

He also told police that he had fired a bullet at Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, who was killed in the Batla House encounter on September 19, 2008.

Atif, who was killed in the encounter, had visited Pakistan several times and received arms training, Shahzad told cops in the latest revelations emerging since his arrest from Azamgarh on February 1. Atif had reportedly told Shahzad that he would be sent via sea route to Pakistan in March 2009 where he would meet the IM founder. Only two members of the module survived the encounter -- Shahzad and Junaid, who is still untraced.

Shahzad was on remanded in the custody of the special cell of Delhi Police in connection with the planting of a bomb at the India Gate Children's Park. The crime branch is also set to quiz the politicians -- a former MLA from Azamgarh and a Mumbai- -based politician -- who probably, gave Shahzad money when he and Junaid were on the run.

Shahzad's confessions about firing on inspector Sharma are likely to strengthen the Police case and refute the doubts about a ‘fake encounter.’ The IM bomber has reportedly said that he fired one bullet on Sharma using a .32 revolver. He and Junaid then fled from the L-18 flat and took a bus out of the area, then took another bus to Aligarh and onwards to Bulandshahr where they reportedly threw the weapon.

According to a report in the Times of India Crime Branch officials said the duo had moved to Lucknow from Bulandshahr where they were hiding for few days. They then sought shelter in Khalispur village near Azamgarh where Shahzad's grandfather was staying. “Realizing the mounting pressure from Police, Junaid and Shahzad then fled to Jaipur to take shelter with Junaid's maternal uncle,” said an officer.

“When his uncle refused to provide him shelter, the two went to Jodhpur where they stayed for two days on the foot path. The two again boarded a train to Mumbai where Shahzad's aunt, his father's sister, is staying. She, however, refused to shelter them though she gave them Rs 5,000,” said a senior police officer. It is here that Junaid is said to have received around Rs 10,000 from a local politician. Junaid is believed to have left Shahzad a month later. Shahzad then landed up in Khalispur where he was hiding for several months, police said.

With the latest revelations throwing up a Pakistan link, special cell officers said they were looking to track four IM terrorists, including a Pakistani, who were in touch with Shahzad over internet.

Shahzad also got financial help from a former Delhi MLA after he escaped from the Batla House shootout on September 19, 2008. According to sources in Delhi Police crime branch, Shahzad has also claimed that a Bihar-based former junior minister and a prominent Mumbai politician helped him evade arrest.

Shahzad has reportedly told the Police that when the firing began at L-18 Batla House, he and Junaid were in another room. He then went to the balcony and saw policemen. While the gun-battle raged on near the front door, the duo fled through the second exit. They ran down the same stairs used by the police team to come up, apparently shouting that they were residents. In the ongoing melee outside the building, they were able to stage a getaway. They then took an auto-rickshaw to Shaheen Bagh where they were sheltered by the former MLA, now based in Noida.

Since the two were short of money, the ex-MLA allegedly provided the cash that helped them board a train for Aligarh. The two then went to Lucknow and Azamgarh from where Junaid parted ways with Shahzad. At this time, the two IM terrorists were reportedly assisted by the junior minister from Bihar by way of more finances. With Shahzad also naming a Mumbai politician, police are verifying an account of the terrorist’s visit to the city along with Junaid.

With this kind of reports the Bharatiya Janata Part, the main opposition party swung into action and blasted the Congress-led UPA government for vote-bank politics and the Congress party leader Digvijay Singh for questioning Batla House encounter and meeting with the family of an alleged Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative.

“This was the worst manifestation of vote bank politics. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) conducted an inquiry into it and found that all allegations are wrong. Even the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court dismissed a PIL demanding a judicial inquiry into the matter,” BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters here.

He said that if Congress leaders think that they will get votes of all Muslims by visiting house of families of terrorists, they were “utterly irresponsible.”

Prasad noted that the government of India had given Ashok Chakra gallantry medal to Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, who was killed in Batla House gun battle, and now Digvijay Singh was questioning the incident.

“We want to ask the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and Congress President Sonia Gandhi to explain this position,” he said.

While Singh met Sajid's family, members of Atif's family refused to meet him, saying they would meet Singh or Congress leaders only after their demand to carry out a judicial enquiry into the shoot-out was met.

Though Singh did not assure them of a judicial inquiry into the incident, he said he would try his best to get an inquiry by the National Investigating Agency (NIA).

Prasad said innocent people were killed in terrorist attacks in Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai, but Congress leaders had not visited their homes. “I want to ask how many families of those innocent people were visited by them. What message are they giving?” he added. Yes, what’s the message the Congress government and its leaders are giving to the nation? Is it that they are only interested in Muslims even if some of them are suspected to be terrorists and killed in gun battles with the Police, and we don’t care about the victims? And mind you, in many cases of terror acts Muslims have also lost their lives, though not as many as the others – Hindus. In any case, the sympathies with the families of terrorists and suspected terrorists should not be given preference over those of victims. Never!