Separate probes into SIMI jailbreak and encounter

A special investigation team, formed by the Madhya Pradesh Police,  inspected the site of alleged encounter where eight SIMI men were gunned down on Monday while a separate investigation began into the jailbreak by extremists by recreating the scene.

The CID team led by SP Anurag Sharma also examined some people about the encounter, which has come under scanner with Opposition parties and the lawyer of the slain SIMI activists pointing to several alleged smoking guns to claim that it was fake.

Former Director General of Police Nandan Dubey, who is investigating the jailbreak, visited the Central Jail here. The jailbreak scene was recreated as part of the probe and Dubey examined some prisoners also. “Yes I spent more than three hours in the jail. I have started the investigation,” Dubey is reported to have said. .

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also inspected the Central Jail here and directed strengthening of security measures.

The lawyer of the eight SIMI activists claimed that they had sustained gun shots in the head and chest. He claimed that he had seen the autopsy reports of the slain men. “They were fired upon from the front and all of them sustained injuries in their head and chest, above the waist,” lawyer Parvez Alam said. Repeating his claim that it was a fake encounter, he said that according to a Supreme Court ruling, police should fire below the waist.

Meanwhile, state Home Minister Bhupendra Singh said any video or evidence about the encounter should be submitted to the SIT. “The slain men were terrorists who had killed policemen earlier,” he said, adding that “Ending terrorism is a priority for our government. We will not compromise at any cost when dealing with terrorism.”

ATS chief Sanjeev Shami maintained that the police were well within the law “to resort to maximum force” if they see the possibility that criminals who are a threat to society may escape.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh did not specify when the National Investigation Agency would conduct a probe into the case. “We have not yet received anything the state). The MP government has already ordered an investigation,” he said.

The SIMI activists were killed on the city outskirts at Malikheda following their escape from the jail after slitting the throat of a security guard and scaling the 32-foot wall using bedsheets in the wee hours of October 31.