Madhya Pradesh government ‘hails’ encounter, calls for probe mount

The families of eight under-trial prisoners — killed in an alleged encounter near Bhopal on Monday — vowed to move court for a CBI probe even as the Madhya Pradesh government “hailed the killing of the terrorists”, and declined mounting calls for an independent investigation.

As an all-out political slugfest over the controversial shooting escalated, a battery of key central ministers fully backed their party chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan by asking “certain people to respect national security and stop questioning security forces all the time”.

State police chief RK Shukla however said a special team would be formed to investigate the encou-nter”. “It is mandated by the law, there is nothing new. The state’s criminal investigation department (CID) probes all encounters,” he said.

The police tracked down and shot dead eight suspected members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (Simi) on Monday, hours after they allegedly escaped from Bhopal’s high-security prison.

On Tuesday, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) sought en explanation from the state government, taking into account a string of unanswered questions, some video clips and conflicting official versions.

MP’s prison minister Kusum Mehdele however said security forces should be praised for tracking and killing the eight men and “preventing acts of terror across the country”.

The developments prompted the families of those killed, opposition parties and human rights activists to intensify their campaign against the government’s story and seek an independent probe.

But the state government flatly said the National Investigative Agency (NIA) would probe only the jailbreak and not the “encounter”. Five jail officials have been suspended for lapses.

In one video that has emerged, a cop is seen retrieving a knife from one body and another cop firing one another, while a man is heard asking the officer to fire more rounds.

A lawyer of the Simi activists, Parvez Alam, said the families will approach the Madhya Pradesh high court seeking a CBI probe once the last rites are over. “The eight men were killed in cold blood,” he said.

On Monday, MP’s anti-terror squad (ATS) chief Sanjeev Sami said the escapees threw stones when the police surrounded them, while the city’s inspector general (IG) of police Yogesh Choudhury said the eight opened fire when told to surrender. No official explained why the eight stuck together, and did not disperse to avoid detection.

Salma Bi, whose son Zakir Hussein was among those killed, said, “No prisoner escaped. Nobody fired on the police.” The eight were awaiting trial in cases of alleged “terror-related activities, besides sedition and robbery”. Banned in 2001, the outfit is accused of carrying out bombings and of having links with terror groups.

Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and Congress leader Digvijaya Singh smelt a conspiracy. His party colleague Kamal Nath sought a judicial probe.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi called for a Supreme Court-monitored inquiry to unveil the truth. “It was perplexing that those killed were fully clothed, had shoes, watches, bands and belts on,” he said.

BSP supremo Mayawati accused the BJP of using the police to fulfill the RSS agenda, and demanded a judicial probe into the incident. “They could have been arrested easily,” she said. RJD chief Lalu Prasad and CPI (M) Pleader Prakash Karat echoed similar sentiments. Reacting sharply, Mr Chouhan said he was pained by “such deplorable politics.” “Certain politicians are crying for terrorists but not lending a word of solace for the martyred jawans,” said Mr Chouhan, who on Monday called the eight under-trials “a threat to the nation”. Union minister of state for home affairs Kiren Rijiju defended his party chief minister and said people should quit the habit of questioning the authorities. “This is not a good culture,” he said.

Union information and broadcasting minister M Venkaiah Naidu said some people were showing more concern for those who broke the law rather than the safety and security of Indians.

“This has become a fashion. Some people are also attributing communal colour. This is all cheap politics,” he said. Another Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad appealed to all to speak in one voice on national security.