Bhopal SIMI encounter: Top jail officials suspended; CM announces NIA probe

Bhopal: The dramatic escape of eight SIMI activists from the high-security Bhopal Central Jail will be probed by the National Investigation Agency, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Monday.

Addressing a press conference, after the terror suspects were gunned down by the police on the outskirts of Bhopal, Chouhan said, “Want to congratulate our forces, but we are looking at this very seriously. Prisoners escaping is a serious matter. Locals played a crucial role as well, they updated us about the location and all other information.”

“I spoke to Home Minister Rajnath Singh, I spoke about how NIA should carry out the investigation in the matter. The Home Minister agreed,” he said.

The Chief Minister said that top officials of the Jail department including the warden of the jail have been suspended pending probe.

Eight SIMI activists had pulled off a daring prison break and escaped in the wee hours after killing a security guard at the Bhopal Central Jail but they were hunted down and killed in a police encounter on the city outskirts.

Acting on the leads provided by locals, the cops tracked them down to Malikheda, where they were encircled and killed when they tried to challenge the police.

The activists of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India had managed to escape around 2-3 AM after killing a jail security guard and scaling the prison wall with the help of bed sheets, DIG Bhopal Raman Singh said.

The activists were identified as -- Amzad, Zakir Hussain Sadiq, Mohammad Salik, Mujeeb Shaikh, Mehbood Guddu, Mohammad Kalid Ahmed, Aqeel and Majid, a police official said.