A political controversy has erupted over the alleged encounter of eight operatives of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (Simi) who were killed by the Madhya Pradesh police within hours of escaping from the high security Bhopal Central Jail early Monday morning.
Senior Congress leaders Digvijay Singh and Kamal Nath as well as Asaduddin Owaisi of the AIMIM while questioning the authenticity of the encounter demanded a judicial probe into the incident.
Mr Singh in a tweet asked if the Simi activists escaped or were allowed to escape while Mr Nath said he was demanding a judicial probe as even the government must know under what circumstances the Simi members managed to escape. Even though the case is going to be handed over to the National Investigation Agency, Mr Owaisi said the NIA probe would not be enough and he doubted the agency’s credibility due to the manner in which it “behaved” in the Malegaon blasts.
Mr Owaisi even also posted a video on his Twitter handle showing a policeman firing at a man from a close range even as he raises his hand and after some unidentified person takes out what appears to be a knife said to be in a plastic cover and places it back. CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury also sought a “time bound judicial inquiry into the killings and disturbing inconsistencies in versions of the state government and police”.
BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh, however, said Digvijay Singh should rather pat the Madhya Pradesh police for the encounter and the gunning down of the terrorists.
The incident which has triggered this political slugfest was reported early Monday morning when eight Simi activists escaped from the high security prison in Bhopal after killing a security guard. Two of these operatives were involved in a similar jail break in Khandwa three years ago.
According to DIG Bhopal, Raman Singh, the Simi members escaped after scaling the prison wall with help of bed sheets. Following the jail break a high alert was sounded in and around Bhopal when the police received a tip-off from some local residents in Malikheda area that the undertrials were hiding there.
The police claimed that the accused persons were encircled and killed in a shootout when they challenged the security forces. Those killed have been identified as Amzad, Zakir Hussain Sadiq, Mohammad Salik, Mujeeb Shaikh, Mehbood Guddu, Mohammad Kalid Ahmed, Aqeel and Majid. Simi was banned by Centre in 2001.
Both the state government and the home ministry have decided to hand over the case to the NIA which will not only probe into the jail break, but also the circumstances in which the subsequent encounter took place. The state government has already suspended four prison officials, including a DIG and jail superintendent, for the lapse.
IG Bhopal area, Yogesh Choudhary, claimed that the SIMI operatives were armed with weapons and they opened fire when confronted and the police only fired in retaliation. However, these comments appeared to be at variance with the claims of state home minister Bhupendra Singh who the undertrials used spoons and plates which they carried from the prison as weapons to attack the security personnel.
But when asked for his comments on the TV footage that appeared to contradict the encounter theory, Mr Singh maintained that it was an encounter and the police had no option but to eliminate them. While briefing the media later chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the entire incident would be probed by the NIA and that the state government too would carry out a separate investigation.
“We have taken a decision to suspend MP prison deputy inspector general (DIG), Bhopal Central Jail superintendent, deputy jail superintendent and assistant jail superintendent,” Mr Chouhan added.
While raising the demand for a judicial probe the Congress too claimed that statements of IG police and the state home minister were totally contradictory.
Meanwhile, the home ministry has asked the state government to submit a detailed report on the incident including lapses on part of the jail administration. Sources said thr home ministry is also likely to issue instructions to states in handling of subversive elements lodged in high security prisons.
Following the escape there was considerable concern among the Central security agencies also as only four of the seven Simi members who had escaped from the Khandwa prison in 2013 could be arrested following a three-year long hunt. During the period that they were on the run these Simi operatives were involved in several incidents of terror and bank robbery. These incidents were reported from several states, including Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.
