Within hours of media reports that eight prisoners who escaped the Bhopal Central Jail were killed in an encounter; questions have been raised about the police version of how events unfolded.
However, questions are now being raised regarding the nature and timing of the incident, especially by politicians from opposition parties.
leading the charge is senior Congress leader and vice president of the All India Congress Committee Digvijay Singh, who questioned if the incident was a ‘staged’ encounter.
Speaking to the media, the former CM of Madhya Pradesh asked, “Were terrorists made to escapeIJ” Echoing Singh’s statement, Congress leader and former minister Kamal Nath called for a judicial enquiry of the encounter.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi demanded an inquiry by a Supreme Court judge into the escape of eight alleged SIMI activists from the prison and their subsequent killing in the gunfight with police.
Stating that the theory being put forward by Madhya Pradesh's Home Minister and police is unbelievable for a reasonable mind, Owaisi, said a probe by an apex court judge was necessary to unravel the whole truth.
Meanwhile, questioning the encounter, AAP MlA Alka lamba said how all the eight suspects could be killed at the same spot. lamba wondered how all the men could have been killed at the same spot.
Calling the encounter of the SIMI terrorists as entirely “dubious” and “manufactured”, Communist Party of India (Marxist) polit bureau member Brinda Karat on Monday asked for an independent High Court probe into the matter.
Raising similar questions, CPI leader D Raja also asked for judicial probe into the matter and urged the Centre to ask for a detailed report from the Madhya Pradesh Government.
However, the BJP and MP government officials have dismissed any wrongdoing in the incident.
Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan tweeted that although the government wanted to congratulate the police, they would look into the matter seriously. “locals played a crucial role as well, they updated us about the location and all other information,” he added.