A 52-year-old Delhi Police sub-inspector Sanjeev Lochan, who was part of the Special Cell team that killed two terrorists of Indian Mujahideen at Batla House in September 2008 in Delhi, died in a road accident on Thursday.
Notably, the Congress party had claimed that the party president Sonia Gandhi had cried bitterly after seeing the images of the slain terrorists.
Delhi police said that the officer was crossing the road at Dwarka’s Baba Haridas Nagar on the afternoon of December 28 in Southwest Delhi when three men on a bike ran over him. The incident took place in front of Baba Haridas Nagar police station where Lochan was posted.
Lochan with severe head injuries was rushed to Venkateshwar Hospital in critical condition. On Thursday morning (December 30), he succumbed to injuries. Lochan is survived by his wife and two children who live in Janakpuri.
The accused were not wearing helmets and were arrested from the spot. But they were released on bail since the offences they were booked for, namely rash driving, causing death by negligence, and sections of the Motor Vehicles Act are bailable.
Lochan was a meritorious officer with medals and out of promotions
Lochan had joined the police force in 1988 as a constable. Considered a meritorious officer, he received several medals and two out-of-turn promotions.
He had received the President’s Gallantry award in 2007 for gunning down two Bangladeshi terrorists in Delhi. He was also awarded two ‘Asadharan Karya Puraskar’ by the city police chief.
His elder brother Arun Kumar Sharma, who is a retired CISF officer, said that Lochan was set to be promoted as inspector. But his sad demies left the family and police shocked.
Batla House encounter
During the Batla House encounter on September 19, 2008, Delhi Police had neutralised terrorists namely Atif Amin and Mohammad Sajid. Terrorists were hiding in a locality in Delhi’s Jamia Nagar, after killing about 30 people in Delhi serial blasts. Lochan was part of the 20 members Special Cell Team of Delhi Police headed by Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma.
Mohammad Saif was arrested and Shahzad and Junaid managed to escape who were arrested later on.
Although brave Delhi Police cop Mohan Chand Sharma was martyred, several politicians began peddling conspiracy theories to suggest that the encounter was a false-flag operation.
Sonia Gandhi cried
Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid, in one of his rallies during the 2012 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections had claimed that party president Sonia Gandhi cried bitterly after seeing the images of the slain terrorists.
Khurshid had said, “When we showed Sonia Gandhi the images of the ‘incident’, she started crying bitterly and with folded hands, she said please do not show me these pictures. Immediately go and speak to the Wazir-e-Azam (Dr. Manmohan Singh) and discuss the matter. I talked to the PM and it was decided that the matter will be further investigated.”
