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10 questions to ask: 8 members of banned SIMI killed hours after jailbreak

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DailyBiteOct 31, 2016 | 18:12

10 questions to ask: 8 members of banned SIMI killed hours after jailbreak

As the video of the eight alleged SIMI "terrorists" - all undertrial suspected militants - being killed in a police encounter in Eintkhedi village on the outskirts of Bhopal hours after they escaped from the central jail emerged and was broken by India Toay, the "jailbreak" narrative has undergone a complete turnaround.

The convicts, serving terms at the central prison for crimes ranging from sedition to terrorism, had planned the escape on Diwali night to use the smog and noise amid the festivities to their advantage - as it would mask signs of their movement and make it harder for the police to give chase.

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According to the Madhya Pradesh police version, the men were washing their faces in a river when the villagers saw them and informed the police. The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and the Counter-Terrorist Group (CTG) of the state police arrived, following which there was an "encounter" between them in the early hours of Monday.

But in the aftermath of their escape, during which they allegedly slit a prison guard's throat using bedsheets, steel plates and glass, has left some damning questions unanswered.

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The eight slain 'terrorists' belonging to SIMI in the alleged Bhopal jailbreak-cum-encounter. [Photo: Agencies]

On the so-called 'jailbreak'

1. The eight convicts were members of the banned outfit SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India) - known to attempt terror bids with military precision and three of them had previously executed a similar jailbreak in 2013 at Khandwa jail. Why would a planned, high-profile escape become possible a second time, despite their record and association with a dreaded terror outfit?

2. Was there a security lax - and underlying objective to allow the escape and then "execute an encounter" that lasted just eight hours?

3. Was the joint operation team of the police, CTG and ATS formed in a matter of hours to avert a larger threat?

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4. How did the terrorists manage to equip themselves with weapons - even if they were in the form of spoons, plates and glass - in the early hours of the morning, when the authorities are on their highest guard? The state home minister, meanwhile, said they had no weapons, but the IG said that they were armed. Why this contradiction?

Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced that National Investigative Agency (NIA) will probe the jail break.

On the so-called 'encounter'

A close examination of the video - seemingly filmed on a cellphone - of the "encounter"throws up startling and extremely disturbing questions:

5. Why was there an encounter executed at all, when all that the "terrorists" were armed with were mere "knives"? Faced with highly trained and fully equipped ATS and CTG personnel, what was the grave need to shoot to kill the escapees in the first place?

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6. Was it just a coincidence that all the eight convicts were killed at the exact same spot? Why did they operate as a group, when the first instinct of the prisoners would be to disperse and flee? Congress' Tehseen Poonawala raises these questions in a series of tweets that have been embedded below, and they merit serious introspection by both the Madhya Pradesh police and authorities responsible for both the security within the jail as well as outside of it. 

7. Why are the cops firing into the bodies of injured escapee even when they have been visibly overpowered? Why were there no attempts to take them back into custody alive, so that they could be properly interrogated?

8. How did the cop in the video know the exact location of the weapon (knife) on the slain escapee's body? Why was it wrapped in plastic and "appeared brand new", since there were no visible blood or mud stains on it? Why were no proper forensic protocols following while trying to retreive the weapon? 

9. Were any attempts made to revive the injured escapees?

10. Why did the Madhya Pradesh CM declare with great fanfare that the "encounter" needed "congratulations", and asked the Union home minister for an NIA probe into the jailbreak-cum-encounter instead of ordering an impartial judicial inquiry, as should be the case?

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Last updated: October 31, 2016 | 18:23
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