The Madhya Pradesh Government has decided to put on hold the cash rewards it had earlier announced for the police personnel who had participated in the encounter killing of eight SIMI activists.
Official sources said that after the announcement of judicial probe into the incident, the Government cannot give cash rewards to anyone till the completion of the inquiry. “The cash rewards were announced prior to the announcement of the judicial probe and, therefore, it is logical that it can't be given till the inquiry gets over," they added.
Notably, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had on November 1 announced that a reward of Rs 2 lakh each for those policemen involved in gunning down the SIMI members. However, human rights activists had been demanding withholding the cash reward ever since it was announced.
Transparency International's Ajay Dube had also questioned the rationale behind announcing the reward at a time when the Government is under the scanner over the veracity of the encounter.
"The Government should have waited for the outcome of the judicial enquiry it has instituted into the encounter. Announcing (rewards for policemen) before it (conclusion of inquiry) amounts to giving them a clean chit and to influence those involved in it (the probe)," he said.
Eight activists of the banned outfit were killed in an encounter on the outskirts of the city hours after they killed a head constable and pulled off an audacious escape from the high-security Central jail in the wee hours of October 31.
The State Government has ordered a judicial probe into the sensational jailbreak and the encounter. The probe will be conducted by retired High Court judge Justice SK Pandey.