Batla House verdict: From BJP to slain cop's father, who said what

Suspected Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorist Shahzad Ahmed, convicted in the 2008 Batla House encounter case, was on Tuesday sentenced to life imprisonment by a Delhi court for killing decorated police officer MC Sharma and injuring two other cops. Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Rajender Kumar Shastri also imposed a fine of Rs 95,000 on him. The Delhi Police had argued for capital punishment on the ground that he had killed and injured on-duty police officers and was involved in various other heinous crimes, including the 13 September, 2008 serial blasts in Delhi which left 26 people dead and injured 133. [caption id=“attachment_996945” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Delhi police during the Batla House encounter. AFP[/caption] Here are some reactons to Ahmad’s sentence: Prakash Javadekar (BJP): I welcome the court’s verdict on Shahzad Ahmad. We need to be strong in our battle against terror. The Congress should apologise to nation over the Batla House encounter. Ravi Shankar Prasad (BJP): This is a victory in the fight against terrorism. It should not be weakened by politics. SM Matloob (Batla House resident): Can’t question the judiciary,but why wasn’t an inquiry ordered?All doubts would have been cleared by it. Narottam Sharma (MC Sharma’s father): The court’s verdict is wrong. We lost our son in this encounter. Shehzad should have been given a death sentence. Maya Sharma (MC Sharma’s wife):  Ahmad was a terrorist who killed a policeman, I think life imprisonment for him is not enough. With agency inputs