New Delhi: Eight members of the banned outfit Students Islamic Movement of India (Simi), who had managed to escape from the Bhopal Central Jail early Monday morning, were killed hours later in an encounter by Madhya Pradesh police on the outskirts of the state capital, Bhopal.
The Simi members had fled after slitting the throat of one of the jail guards.
“Eight inmates related to Simi escaped from Bhopal Central Jail between 2 and 3am today [Monday]. They used their blankets to make a rope and crossed the wall of the jail. They overpowered the two officers in charge and then opened the jail locks. They also killed one security guard, Ramashankar Yadav. All of them were accused of various crimes such as bank robbery, murder and sedition,” Bhopal Inspector General of Police Yogesh Choudhary said Monday.
The eight men have been identified as Shaikh Mujeeb, Majid, Khalid, Aqeel Khilji, Zaqir Hussain, Mohammad Saliq, Shaikh Mehboob, alias Guddu, and Amjad.
Five jail staff suspended
They were hunted down about 30km from the jail. After receiving a tip-off from the villagers, a joint team of state police and Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) surrounded the fugitives near Acharpura village and shot them dead.
According to sources in the police, the encounter lasted about 30 minutes, in which four policemen sustained wounds.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has suspended five jail staff, including Superintendent Akhilesh Tomar.
Director General of Bhopal Central Jail Sanjay Choudhary told Gulf News that security of other prisoners has been increased after the incident.
“The Additional Director General of Bhopal Central Jail has been directed to probe the security lapses. The security has been increased for other prisoners now. There will also be a high-level committee to probe the incident,” Choudhary said.
Banned outfit
The eight Simi members were accused in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts, and explosions in Pune and Chennai two years ago.
Three of them had fled Khandwa jail in Madhya Pradesh in 2013 and were intercepted in Odisha after being on the run for almost two years. One of the accused was held responsible for plotting a bomb blast in 2012.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh sought a detailed report from state Chief Minister Chauhan.
Meanwhile, state Home minister Bhupendra Singh has admitted negligence on the part of jail authorities.
“A probe has been ordered and there must have been some carelessness. We will look into the incident. We take it very seriously,” Singh told media.
Simi, which was accused of carrying out several terror attacks across the country, was banned by the federal government in 2001.
Currently, about 21 Simi operatives are lodged in Bhopal central jail.
