Two days after the encounter at Batla House left Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma and two suspected terrorists dead, the mood in Jamia Nagar is that of anger, suspicion and mistrust.

According to residents of the area, Sharma’s life could have been saved had the police taken them into confidence and sought their help.

Irfanullah Khan, convener of the Jamia Nagar Coordination Committee and member of the Samata Party, said: “We have held meetings with Central ministers and even the Home Minister (Shivraj Patil) about the problems we face. Had the police told us about the presence of terrorists here, we could have been of big help to them.”

“Sharma was known as a brave man here too,” Khan said about the slain inspector.

Khan has been living in the area for the last at least 20 years. His house is located just around 100 metres away from L-18, where the encounter took place.

Abdur Rehman Abid, secretary of the committee, said: “People listen to the members of the committee. We could have helped force the boys (who were killed) to surrender peacefully.”

Shadab Khan, 20, a student of MBA in Jamia Millia Islamia university, said: “We never get to know the real picture. Even the faces of the terrorists who were killed were not shown to us.”

Shadab and his friends from the university had claimed it to be a fake encounter when Newsline spoke to them on Friday. Five boys, who were neighbours of the suspected terrorists, had been picked up after the encounter and released later.

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