Shaheen Bagh fears Batla’s terror stigma

NEW DELHI: The arrest of Mohammad Irshad Khan, alleged to be a member of the IM module that carried out the attack outside Jama Masjid, the explosion at German Bakery in Pune and the blasts at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore has got the residents of Shaheen Bagh area near Jamia Nagar to question whether they were being made the scapegoat yet again.
“The young man who has been arrested has been a resident of the area for the past eight years.However, he belongs to the Samastipur area in north Bihar. He has been arrested from Chennai. Yet, the cops are repeatedly visiting us, asking us for our identities and trying to piece together his life here. It almost seems we have returned to the encounter three years ago when Batla House became synonymous with terror,” said a neighbour, who wished to remain anonymous.
The cops said they have enough evidence against Irshad. “We have found that the arms factory that we busted at Mir Vihar on Wednesday was rented in his name. In his interrogation, he had indicated that he met Shahrukh during the first quarter of 2009 when Shahrukh was trying to rebuild the IM after the Batla House encounter. They soon became close associates and were involved in the Jama Masjid attack in September next year. The weapons that were recovered from him and his associates include two AK-47 rifles, 50 cartridges and five detonators,’’ said an officer.
The neighbourhood remains apprehensive of their daily routine getting disturbed. ``We have been told that his family members have left for an undisclosed location. We have seen this man here for the past eight years. We want to send out a clear signal – we are against any form of terrorism but there must be trustworthy proof of someone committing the crime,’’ said Zia-ur Rehman, a resident.
"Youngsters need to move ahead and forget about the witchhunt which followed the encounter. Stop bothering us and we will try to rise above our sufferings,'' said 72-yearold Javed Hussain, who stays two blocks away from the encounter site at L-18 Batla House.