SIMI men escaped from the Bhopal Central Jail after killing a guard with a knife.
Highlights
- Purported videos of encounter with SIMI men raise questions
- Shivraj Singh Chouhan accused opposition of 'dirty politics'
- Opposition silent on killed guard, SIMI men dreaded terrorists: Chouhan
Pummeled with serious questions about the killing of eight terror suspects of the Students' Islamic Movement of India or SIMI in Bhopal, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today accused opposition parties of "dirty politics" over the killing of men he described as "dreaded terrorists".
Here are the 10 latest developments in this story:
Mr Chouhan visited the family of the security guard, Ramashankar Yadav, who was killed by the SIMI men when they escaped from the Bhopal Central Jail late on Sunday night. The policeman's daughter is to be married soon.
"Wish the opposition had said a few words on the guard. They have nothing to say for martyrs....These men were dreaded terrorists...We have no idea what terror they would have spread. Yet for them, so much fuss," the Chief Minister told reporters. "I condemn such politics," he added.
Around 2 am on Sunday, the eight men slit the throat of Head Constable Ramashankar Yadav with a sharp weapon made from steel plates and tied bedsheets together to climb a 30-foot wall for their escape.
The fugitives were hunted down to a hilly patch around 8 km from the prison and shot dead.
Amid calls by opposition parties for an investigation into the encounter, videos (NDTV cannot verify authenticity of these videos) filmed on mobile phone have raised questions for the police.
In one video, a policeman is seen shooting at a limp body while another video is interpreted as an indication that the men tried to surrender but were shot dead. The fugitives are seen standing and waving at a distance while a policeman says: "Five men are trying to talk to us. Let us surround them." Gunshots are then heard.
The police say the men were armed and fired at them, forcing them to shoot back. If the men did have guns, it is not clear when they got them and why state Home Minister Bhupinder Singh initially said they only had the steel plates and spoons used for their escape.
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, who has questioned the encounter since yesterday, said: "The judiciary should investigate how the men escaped from jail. Why is it always that the men who escape from jail are always SIMI men?"
The National Investigation Agency, the top counter-terror organisation, will inquire into the encounter. The Congress said the investigation should be court-monitored.
SIMI, accused of carrying out several attacks and having links with Pakistan-based terror groups, was banned in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks.
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