BJP workers hold a demonstration in-front of Sonia's residence

New Delhi: A large number of Bhartiya Janta Party workers, on Monday, protested outside Congress President Sonia Gandhi 's residence in New Delhi against the party’s statement on Batla House encounter case.

The case:

• Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh, on May 24, had stated that the 2008 Batla House encounter as 'fake' and asked the government in Centre to order a judicial probe into the 2008 encounter in which two suspected terrorists and a police officer were killed.
• However a day later, Shivraj Patil, the then Union Minister under UPA government, rejected Digvijay's claim and asserted that the 2008 Batla shoot-out was genuine and not 'fake'.

What did Digvijay Singh say:

The Congress general secretary said, "Batla House encounter was fake. I dare the BJP to go for a judicial probe. I still stand by my remarks on the encounter. I don't know who is Bada Sajid or Chhota Sajid.”

What leaders from UPA government said:

"I have said in past, that encounter wasn't fake. If someone says something otherwise, then it's his responsibility to prove it,” Patil told media.

Highlights:

• Batla House encounter, officially known as Operation Batla House, took place during the former UPA regime on September 19, 2008.
• The operation was conducted against Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorists in Batla House locality in Jamia Nagar, Delhi.
• Two suspected terrorists were killed while two other suspects were arrested during encounter.
• Encounter specialist and Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, who led the police action, was also martyred during the incident.
• The controversy started when Mohammed Sajid alias Bada Sajid, one of the six persons was featured in the 22-minute video allegedly posted by the Islamic State recently.It recently came into news after a claim by an alleged ISIS operative that he had fled Batla House right before the police raided it.
• He was, however, one of the terrorist who was claimed killed in the encounter.

A Delhi court had in 2013 sentenced to life the lone convict and suspected Indian Mujahideen operative Shahzad Ahmad in the case for killing police officer Sharma and injuring two other policemen.