Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and other BJP leaders decried attempts to “politicise and communalise” the killing of eight activists of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) on Tuesday soon after they broke out of the Bhopal Central Jail after killing a Head Constable in the wee hours of Monday.
Even as a political slugfest broke out over the issue and the police asserted that it was a genuine encounter and the CID would probe the matter, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday issued notices to the Madhya Pradesh Government, police and prison authorities over the encounter.
The NHRC has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report on the case and observed that it has always been “concerned” about deaths in police and judicial custody as well as in police action.
The NHRC has issued notices to the State’s Chief Secretary, Director General of Police and the Director General and Inspector General of State prison department, and sought a detailed reports in six weeks.
However, amid growing Opposition clamour for a judicial probe into the encounter Madhya Pradesh’s Home Minister Bhupendra Singh said there was no need for any investigation. But the State’s police chief Rishi Kumar Shukla maintained that the CID will go into the incident.
Meanwhile, slamming the dirty politics being played over the encounter, Chouhan on Tuesday said the slain SIMI men were dreaded terrorists who could have wreaked devastation. Chouhan was talking to reporters here after paying tributes to Head Constable Ramashankar Yadav, who was killed by the SIMI activists.
Chouhan said he was pained to see that certain politicians were raising a hue and cry over the terrorists but not saying a word of solace for the martyred policemen. “I am pained to see the kind of politics being played out. Some politicians are turning a blind eye to the sacrifices of the martyrs. They are unable to see the sacrifice of Ramashankar Yadav. These were the same terrorists who first killed Shivpratap Kushwaha (policeman) in Ratlam and then they murdered Sitaram Yadav (policeman) in Khandwa and now Ramashankar Yadav,” he said.
The State Government and BJP said while the facts will come out clearly after the probe, doubts should not be raised on the action of security and armed forces as it lowers their morale even as they called upon everyone to speak in one voice on issues of national security.
Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu defended the action saying some people are showing more concern for those who broke the law rather than for the security forces.
“Some people are showing more concern for them (activists) rather than showing concern for safety and security of Indians and India as a nation. This has become a fashion for some people. Some people
are also attributing communal colour. This is all cheap politics. I appeal to all to avoid politics and take care of the safety and security of people,” he said.
Another Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “I would appeal to all to speak in one voice on national security.”
Prasad said this after Congress leader Digvijay Singh led the Opposition charge saying that the NIA probe should be court-monitored and called for a separate judicial probe into “why only undertrial activists of SIMI and Muslims were involved in jailbreaks” in Madhya Pradesh.
BSP chief Mayawati, CPI(M) and RJD also made a strong pitch for a judicial probe into the encounter while casting aspersions on the official version in view of the “evidence” that has appeared
so far including purported video clips.
Alleging that these were “cold-blooded” murders, lawyer of the SIMI activists Parvez Alam said their families have decided to approach the Madhya Pradesh High Court seeking a CBI probe.
“The families of the deceased have come to me for justice. We are going to move the MP High Court for a CBI probe into the entire incident,” he said.
“The TV grabs show police and ATS firing. There is no evidence that the accused fired. This is a fake encounter and (these are) cold blooded murders,” he claimed and contested the claims by police that
the inmates had escaped from the jail and were armed.
However, Inspector General Yogesh Choudhary remained firm on the police version and said it was a genuine encounter. He added that they will probe the authenticity of the videos or other “evidence”.
“I have not seen the videos. If there are any video or other evidence, their veracity as well as their usage would be taken into consideration. I would like to reiterate that we have recovered four firearms and three sharp weapons from these people. We have recovered two 315 bore countrymade pistols and two 12 bore ‘Kattas’ from which around six rounds were fired.
He said police will probe whether the SIMI men got some external help.
“Between 2 and 3 am and at 10:30-11:30 am when the actual confrontation took place, the main point and the road map of investigation is that what happened in between and from where did they get help. Did they get any external help or they had something on their own is one of the main points of investigation,” he said.
“I am very clear that the incident as I have depicted has happened the way it has happened. Three of our men had injuries from sharp weapons,” he said.
Meanwhile, in the wake of the jailbreak, Gujarat Police also conducted a major security review
at Sabarmati Central jail in Ahmedabad which houses over 75 prisoners alleged to be of SIMI and Indian Mujahideen.