2008 Batla House shootout may have been staged: Digvijay Singh

NEW DELHI - Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh accepted here on Wednesday that the Batla House shootout, which took place in a Muslim-dominated area of south Delhi in 2008, might have been ’staged’.

Singh revealed this while addressing students of the Jamia Millia Islamia University.

Last year, the Jamia Teachers Solidarity Group, a union of varsity’s teachers, had made public a set of photographs that exposed critical loopholes in the version of the event presented by the police on the shootout.

Singh said ‘photographic evidence’ of post mortem reports of the slain victims proved his claim.

“The photographs that had been given to me proved that there was no way that the bullets could have hit the victims as was claimed by the police officials. It was staged, and regarding this, I met the top brass of the Congress party, after which we took a high-level delegation to the Prime Minister demanding an impartial judicial enquiry into the incident,” said Singh.

Numerous protests have previously taken place across the nation by lobbyists, demanding a judicial probe into the high profile encounter.

“I accept that it is an emotional issue. It certainly is a human rights issue, and there must be an open debate on this. I promise you that I will meet the party leaders again to press for an immediate resolution of the matter,” said Singh.

Singh also targeted the right-wing Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS), for fanning communal animosity by engaging in militant strikes.

“I was the first state chief in India who had given evidence incriminating the RSS in cases of militancy and extremism. I was the first person in india that the RSS gives training to its cadres to make bombs,” said Singh. (ANI)