NEW DELHI: While climbing the stairs leading to L-18, Batla House, ACP Sanjeev Yadav heard gunshots and saw his wounded teammates, including inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, being brought down. It took him just a few seconds to understand what was unfolding inside the flat.
There was no plan as such in place, recalled a team member. “We hadn’t gone to the crowded place inside Jamia Nagar for the fierce gunfight that broke out. The first team did not even have bulletproof vests. It was an unsaid protocol that we never went in that area wearing police gear to avoid confrontation,” he added.
Among those who had entered the flat first was sub-inspector Dharmender wearing a formal shirt, tie and trousers. He was carrying a bag posing as an executive of a telecom company. When the barrage of bullets came, three of the seven cops got hit. Things changed when Yadav arrived at the scene. He, inspector Rahul and head constable Rajvir barged into the room on the left side of the flat while facing gunfire. The ACP returned fire bringing down Chhota Sajid.
“When we again tried to enter the room, Rajbir was hit on his bulletproof vest twice. Moving further, we found Mohammed Saif in the bathroom. He was unarmed and screamed that he was ready to surrender. He was brought out unharmed,” Yadav, now a DCP in Special Cell, said.
In the melee, Ariz Khan, who was sentenced to death by a court on Monday, managed to escape. Within weeks, he reached Nepal where he managed to get citizenship and a passport in the name of Mohammed Salim. He stayed in Palpa, Kapilavastu and Gorkha areas, where he first started a dhaba, but later began to teach in small schools. He also made a brief visit to Saudi Arabia on the instructions of the Bhatkal brothers, who headed Indian Mujahideen and were based in Karachi.
While police remained entangled in inquiries, commissions and politically motivated controversies, catching Khan became important for the real story to be proved in the court of law.
In January 2018, DCP Pramod Kushwaha’s team received crucial inputs regarding Khan’s whereabouts from arrested IM ideologue Tauqeer. A team comprising inspectors Chandrika, Satish Rana and others then tracked Khan down after a month-long operation in Nepal. Incidentally, the same team got assigned under Yadav and pursued the case for three years, which led to conviction and capital punishment.
The verdict is good news for every policeman associated with the encounter. “For years, we lived with all sorts of theories. But we had faith in the judiciary. We stand vindicated today,” Yadav told TOI.