The eight undertrials were killed by police in an alleged encounter near Bhopal.
In a U-turn from its earlier stand, the Madhya Pradesh government today announced a judicial inquiry into both the jail break and the encounter of the eight SIMI men on Monday.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan just hours after the encounter had announced that the case of jail break will be referred to the National Investigation Agency but not the encounter, as the government claimed it was authentic.
But then, one after the other, mobile videos of the encounter surfaced, which raised questions on the authenticity of the encounter. By Monday evening, the top cop formed a Special Investigation Team or SIT to probe the encounter.
More videos and audio clips have since surfaced in which allegedly the cops are seen killing the SIMI men from close range and senior policemen heard instructing cops on the ground to not spare them. (NDTV cannot verify the authenticity of the audio or video recordings) The state government seems to have finally accepted the need for a probe.
The probe will be conducted by retired High Court judge SK Pandey. But questions are being raised on fair the probe will be. As just 24 hours after the encounter, the chief minister was seen felicitating and awarding police officials involved in the encounter.
"The police men involved in the encounter will get Rs 2 lakh each as reward and policemen part of the search party will get 1 lakh each," said Mr Chouhan.
Congress spokesperson KK Mishra said, "This was orchestrated by the MP government. Government knows what will happen next. So the CM first announces NIA probe then takes a u turn and orders judicial probe."
But the state government denies any attempt of a cover-up.
Bhupendra Singh, Home Minister of Madhya Pradesh, says, "We have not order the inquiry based on the demands of Congress. Have ordered probe to come out clean with the fact. Since judicial inquiry has been ordered, there is no need for any other inquiry."
With the announcement of judicial probe, the state government has now made it clear that the NIA will not be probing the jail break. This has given more ammunition to the opposition against the BJP state government which is now facing difficult questions on the jail break and the encounter.