Before any investigation could be conducted in the encounter of eight SIMI members on the outskirts of Bhopal, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has endorsed the incident by rewarding the police personnel involved in the encounter. He also announced that the villagers who helped the cops in providing leads about the SIMI men would be rewarded with Rs 40 lakh.
In a programme on the foundation day of Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday night, the Chief Minister, while batting for fast-track courts to try terror cases, said the accused stay in jail for years before they are sentenced and keep eating chicken biryani.
"It takes years to sentence them. They keep eating chicken biryani (in jail)... They escape and indulge in more crimes and attacks.... If we can have fast- track courts for corruption cases, why can't we have fast-track courts for sentencing terroristsIJ" Chouhan asked.
On Wednesday, Chouhan inspected the Central Jail from where the eight SIMI activists escaped after killing a head warder and were later gunned down by police on Monday. The Opposition and families of the victims have questioned the police version.
The Chief Minister was apprised of the security arrangements and he instructed the authorities to further tighten it. He was accompanied by Chief Secretary BP Singh, DGP Shukla and MP Jail Director-General Sanjay Choudhary.
During Tuesday's programme, Chouhan had slammed the dirty politics being played over the killing of eight SIMI operatives by police and said the slain men were dreaded terrorists who could have wreaked devastation.
Speaking to reporters after paying tributes to Head Warder Ramashankar Yadav, who was killed by the activists while escaping from the Bhopal Central Jail yesterday, Chouhan had said he was pained to see that certain politicians were making a hue and cry over the terrorists but not saying a word of solace for the martyred policemen.