Bhopal: Eight terror suspects, members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (Simi), were gunned down on Monday in an alleged encounter at Entikheda, nearly 15 km from here.
Nine hours earlier, in a daring pre-dawn jailbreak, the eight operatives had scaled the 32-ft high jail boundary wall by using a rope made out of bedsheets after holding an under-trial prisoner hostage and then killing security guard Ram Shankar Yadav by slitting his throat with a sharp weapon fashioned from a spoon.
MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan described the jailbreak as a serious security lapse and ordered the suspension of five jail officials, including the DIG (Jails) and ADG (Jails).
Acting on a tip-off by local villagers, a joint search party comprising personnel of the counter terrorist group (CTG), anti-terrorist squad (ATS) and the city police surrounded a hillock at Entikheda under Gunga police station where the SIMI operatives were hiding, and later neutralised them, a counterinsurgency officer said.
“They pelted stones at us when we surrounded them. All the eight escapees were gunned down,” ATS chief Mr Sanjeev Sami said.
Centre asks NIA to probe
While Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the escapees were a threat to the nation, and state home minister Bhupendra Singh said the eight were plotting a terror attack, the Centre has asked the National Investigative Agency (NIA) to probe the incident. Union home minister Rajnath Singh has sought a detailed report.
Soon after the “encounter”, a video purportedly showing a jawan firing from a close range on a motionless SIMI member went viral, sparking outrage among human rights activists.
While Digvijay Singh said repeated jailbreaks suggest a larger conspiracy, his colleague Kamal Nath said, “Now we can’t get any information as all of them died, there should be a judicial probe.”
Soon after the 30-minute “encounter” at Entikheda, 15 km from Bhopal, MP’s anti-terror squad (ATS) chief Sanjeev Sami said the escapees pelted stones when the police surrounded them, while the city’s 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. Other unanswered questions included if they only had sharpened spoons for weapons, why they were shot; and if they indeed fired on the police, from where they got arms. Those killed also wore sports shoes and jeans and not the usual prison attire, post-operation photographs showed. The eight were identified as Mohd Akil Khilji, Meheboob Guddu, Mohd Khalid Ahmed, Mujib Sheikh, Amzad Khan, Zakir Hussein Sheikh, Mohd Salik and Abdul Majid.
