Police officers and Special Task Force soldiers stand beside dead bodies of the suspected members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), who earlier today escaped the high security jail in Bhopal, and later got killed in an encounter at the Acharpura village on the outskirts of Bhopal, October 31, 2016. REUTERS/Raj Patidar

Police officers and Special Task Force soldiers stand beside dead bodies of the suspected members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), who earlier today escaped the high security jail in Bhopal, and later got killed in an encounter at the Acharpura village on the outskirts of Bhopal, October 31, 2016. REUTERS/Raj Patidar

BHUBANESHWAR, India Madhya Pradesh police shot dead eight Islamist prisoners who had escaped from jail hours earlier on Monday by using knotted bedsheets to scale the walls, officials said.

The men, members of a banned militant group awaiting trial, fled the high security jail in the early hours in Bhopal, after slitting the throat of a prison officer.

Police tracked the armed men down after local villagers reported suspicious movements, surrounded them outside the city and shot all eight dead, inspector general of police Yogesh Choudhary told Reuters.

The escaped prisoners "fired on the police party first" he said. "In retaliation police fired and all eight were dead. Four firearms and three knives were recovered."

The men had been facing charges including murder and robbery, Choudhary said. Three had escaped from another Indian prison in 2013.

All eight were members of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), a group formed in 1977 which has been accused of involvement in bomb attacks across the country.

The home ministry has ordered an enquiry into the prison break, Indian media reported.

(Writing by Tommy Wilkes; editing by Andrew Roche) </s> The Students Islamic Movement of India activists killed a jail security guard and scaled the jail walls with bedsheets.

Eight alleged members of the outlawed Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) were killed in an encounter by Madhya Pradesh police on Monday, said officials.

The eight men had earlier escaped from the Bhopal Central Jail in Madhya Pradesh's capital city Bhopal early morning on Monday.

The SIMI activists also killed security guard Ramashankar Yadav by slitting his throat.

“Eight inmates related to the SIMI escaped from Bhopal Central Jail between 2 to 3 a.m. today. They used their blankets to make a rope and crossed the bigger wall of the jail. They also killed one security guard Ramashankar Yadav. All of them were accused of various crimes such as bank robbery, murder, and sedition. Search operations are on to nab them as soon as possible,” Bhopal Inspector General of Police Yogesh Choudhary told reporters.

According to a police officer posted in Bhopal, the SIMI men “overpowered” two security guards who were exchanging their shifts at around 3 a.m.

According to some unconfirmed reports, six out of the eight escaped SIMI activists were identified as Sheikh Mujeeb, Muhammad Khalid Akil, Jakir Hussain Sadiq, Mohammad Salik, Mehaboob Malik and Amjad Khan.

Three of those who escaped from Bhopal jail are the same who escaped from Khandwa prison in 2013. They were later caught by the Telangana police. The Madhya Pradesh government has announced Rs. five lakh as reward for information about the escaped prisoners. </s> The Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) activists also killed a jail security guard and scaled the jail walls with bedsheets.

Eight activists of the banned outfit SIMI escaped early on Monday from the Bhopal Central Jail by killing a security guard and scaling the prison wall with the help of bed sheets.

“Eight SIMI activists escaped around 2-3 a.m. by killing a jail security guard,” DIG Bhopal Raman Singh said.

The Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) activists also killed a jail security guard and scaled the jail walls with bedsheets, he said.

They killed the guard by slitting his throat with steel plate and glass after overpowering him, the DIG said.

"The incident happened around 2 a.m. when there was a change of guard. Jail official Ramashankar Yadav was overpowered by these men and killed, they snatched the keys and opened the cells. After that, they rushed to the outer periphery wall of the jail, made stairs out of bedsheets and escaped," said SP Arvind Saxena.

Further details are awaited, he said, adding that a hunt has been launched to nab them. </s> Representatives of different organisations on Wednesday urged the Government to order for a probe by Supreme Court judge into the “killing of eight activists of Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) in Bhopal in the guise of encounter”.

Addressing a press conference here, speakers alleged that the video clip of the killing showed that it was “fake encounter”.

“How come the prisoners scale 32-feet high wall without suffering any scratches. With so many policemen around, couldn’t they capture the fugitives alive?”, asked Syed Tariq Quadri, general secretary of Soofi Academy.

He felt it was not possible for the fugitives without getting their act recorded by the surveillance cameras on the prison premises. Mr. Quadri described the encounter as a continuation of the killing of five prisoners, including Viqaruddin, at Alair in Bhongir of Telangana in April, 2015.

President of Lambadi Hakkula Porata Samithi (LHPS-Nangara Bheri), Dasram Nayak charged that the killing of SIMI activists were part of the conspiracy to polarise voters in ensuing Uttar Praadesh Assembly elections.

Praja Kala Mandali State Secretary J. Koti, Maulana Naseeruddin and Students Islamic Organisation of India (Telangana zone) public relations secretary Syed Azharuddin also demanded probe into the Bhopal encounter by a Supreme Court judge. </s> A high alert has been sounded on Monday following a jail break by eight Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) activists in Bhopal, even as the Union Home Ministry sought a report from the Madhya Pradesh government.

This was the second major jail break by operatives of banned SIMI in three years after the sensational escape by seven members of the group from a jail in Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh in 2013.

Concerned over the incident, a nationwide alert has been sounded for the hunt of the eight SIMI men, who escaped from Bhopal jail after killing a jail security guard, official sources said.

All States neighbouring Madhya Pradesh have been specifically told to remain alert and keep special vigil along their borders with Madhya Pradesh, sources said.

Central security officials were in regular touch with the state police officials and providing inputs to help nab the escapes.

The Home Ministry also asked the Madhya Pradesh government to send a detailed report about the jail break, whether there was any lapse on the part of the jail administration and the steps taken to check such incidents.

The Central security agencies were particularly anxious as four of the seven SIMI activities, who escaped from a jail in Khandwa October 1, 2013, could be arrested only after three years and during the period of their hiding, the militants were involved in multiple incidents of terror and a bank robbery.

The seven SIMI men had made an audacious escape from the district jail in Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh after scaling a 14-foot wall.

While one prisoner surrendered the next day and another was caught in December 2013 from Barwani in Madhya Pradesh.

A third was killed in an encounter with Telangana Police on April 5, 2015, but the four continued to evade police for three years till their arrest in February 2016 in Rourkela in Odisha.

While in hiding, the SIMI men were allegedly involved in terror activities in several States including Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

The group is suspected to be involved in a bank robbery in Karimnagar (Telangana) on February 1, 2014, blast in a Bangalore-Guwahati train at the Chennai Central station that killed a young software engineer, on May 1, 2014 and the July 10, 2014 explosion near Faraskhana and Vishrambag police stations in Pune.

They were also allegedly involved in explosions in Roorkee in Uttarakhand and in Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh. </s> Parvez Alam says he has seen the post mortem reports of the eight men.

The eight Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) activists killed in an alleged encounter on Monday sustained gun shots in the head and chest, their lawyer claimed on Wednesday, citing post mortem reports.

“They were fired upon from the front and all of them sustained injuries in their head and chest, above the waist,” lawyer Parvez Alam told PTI. He claimed that he has seen the post mortem reports of the SIMI men.

Repeating his claim that it was a fake encounter, he said that according to a Supreme Court ruling, the police should fire below the waist.

Mr. Alam said he would petition the local court for medical examination of the remaining members of the banned organisation lodged in the jail in Bhopal, and alleged they were assaulted. He also claimed that there was threat to his life.

The activists were killed on the city outskirts at Malikheda following their escape from the jail after slitting the throat of a security guard and scaling the 32-feet wall using bedsheets in the wee hours of October 31.

“I am going to move the Bhopal Chief Judicial Magistrate court seeking conduct of a medical examination of 20-odd so-called SIMI members in jail,” he said.

“I have learnt that they have been brutally beaten,” he alleged.

“Besides, I am going to meet MP Director-General of Police and seek security for myself,” Mr. Alam said.

“As I am openly speaking against the encounter, now I fear for my life and family members after the cold-blooded murder of my clients,” he said.

On Tuesday, bodies of seven of the eight SIMI activists were buried in different parts of Madhya Pradesh amid tight security.

While the last rites of Amjad Khan, Zakir Hussain, Mohammad Salik, Sheikh Mehboob, Aqueel Khilji, Mohammed Khalid and Abdul Majid were conducted in the State, the body of another deceased Sheikh Mujeeb was taken to Ahmedabad by his family members.

All the bodies were handed over to the kin after post mortem in Bhopal. While taking custody of the bodies, the relatives questioned the genuineness of the police encounter.

However, police have dismissed criticism over the encounter killings, saying there was heavy exchange of fire in which they were felled and four country-made guns and some sharp-edged weapons were recovered from them.

IG Yogesh Chaudhary has maintained that all questions raised over the encounter were a matter of investigation as the series of events over seven hours between their escape and killing were still being probed.

This came soon after a controversy raged over the police action following the pre-dawn jailbreak, as TV channels showed footage purportedly from the encounter site in which a policeman is seen pumping bullets into a man from close range after some unidentified person takes out what appears to be a knife said to be in a plastic cover and places it back.

Besides the veracity of the video, police are also probing how the SIMI terror suspects could lay their hands on weapons after their escape.

Mr. Alam on Tuesday said that the families of the accused have decided to move the Madhya Pradesh High Court for a CBI probe into entire episode as well as the killings what they called a fake encounter. </s> The Madhya Pradesh government’s version of the incident where eight alleged members of the banned Students’ Islamic Movement of India were shot dead by police in the State under suspicious circumstances on Monday after they escaped from Bhopal’s central jail (Page 1, Nov.1) raises several doubts. How did the men escape despite high security arrangements in the prison and systems and gadgets installed? Was it negligence on the part of the prison authorities or a case of connivance? Why was it necessary to shoot the men when some of them were injured? There are many loose ends. Were Supreme Court guidelines in such cases followed by the police?

The official version just does not add up. Footage of the purported encounter has only added to the discomfiture of the State police and their political masters. While no responsible citizen can hold a brief for elements indulging in acts of terror, one cannot at the same time let the law enforcement agencies run amuck and act in a manner not consistent with the rule of law. The charges against those killed were yet to be proved before the trial court. There have been innumerable instances where the persons initially arrested for acts of terror were later found to be innocent, the Malegaon bomb blast cases of 2006 being an example. Given the sensitivity of the case, any investigation by agencies answerable to the executive of the day would lack credibility. It is a fit case for suo motu intervention by the Supreme Court.

It is pathetic that political parties such as the Congress and the CPI(M) are now demanding a probe into the incident despite being well aware that the men were involved in terror cases and escaped after killing a jail officer. There is a limit to politicising such issues.

It is upsetting that there are quite a few political elements that are more interested in practising appeasement politics than in praising the police. The Madhya Pradesh State police acted swiftly but had they failed to act, these elements would have been quick to change track and blame the government. </s> The eight SIMI terrorists, who fled from the Bhopal Central Jail early this morning, have been killed in an encounter in Eintkhedi village. The SIMI terrorists escaped from the jail after killing a security guard and scaling the prison wall using bedsheets. 



 “The incident took place at around 2 a.m. The terrorists used blankets and bedsheets. They overpowered the two officers in charge and then opened the locks,” Superintendent of Police Arvind Saxena told ANI.



 Meanwhile, Sanjay Choudhary, Director General of the Bhopal Central Jail, said that the security of other prisoners has been increased post the incident. “The ADG Jail has been directed to probe the security lapses. The security has been increased for the other prisoners now. There will also be a high-level committee to probe the incident,” he added. 



 The terrorists tied up one guard and killed a head constable by slitting his throat with steel plate and glass at around 2 a.m. The terrorists then used ropes fashioned out of bedsheets to climb the boundary walls. Five officers including the Jail Superintendent have been suspended after the incident. 



 The action has been taken on the direction of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Chouhan told the media that Additional Director General of the jail has also been removed after the incident. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh also spoke to Chouhan and sought for a detail report on the incident. Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Bhupendra Singh earlier lambasted the jail administration for their negligence. </s> Six men were convicted Monday over the notorious 2018 gang rape and murder in India of an eight-year-old girl from a Muslim nomadic tribe that provoked horror and stoked inter-religious tensions.

Sexual violence, including against children, is rife in India and outrage over the so-called Kathua case contributed to the government introducing the death penalty for child rapists.

According to the charge sheet, the girl was abducted while she was out grazing horses and taken to a village in the Kathua district of the northern Indian region of Jammu on January 10 last year.

In an ordeal lasting five days, she was sedated and held in a Hindu temple, repeatedly raped and then strangled and bludgeoned to death.

Investigations suggested that the girl was targeted in order to strike fear in her nomad community and drive them out of the area.

The six Hindu men were due to be sentenced later, prosecution lawyer Mubeen Farooqui told reporters outside a special court in Pathankot, in Punjab state.

They face the death penalty with a minimum of life imprisonment. A seventh man was acquitted while an eighth person, who claims to be underage, faces a separate trial.

"We will appeal against the convictions in a higher court," defence lawyer H.S. Pathania said.

Among the three convicted for rape and murder were village head Sanjhi Ram and special police officer Deepak Khajuria. Three others were found guilty of taking bribes and destroying evidence, but still face life imprisonment under strict conspiracy laws.

India has the death penalty for the most brutal murders and terror attacks. The last execution happened in 2015 over bombings in Mumbai in 1993.

The Kathua case sparked two days of violent protests in Jammu and demonstrations in several other places across India, including in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

The ruling right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party also drew flak after two of its members participated in rallies in support of the accused.

The protests were reminiscent of those that followed the fatal gang rape of a Delhi student on a bus in 2012 that made headlines around the world.

The Supreme Court had shifted the Kathua trial to Punjab after the girl's family and their lawyer complained of death threats.

Sexual violence, including against children, remains unabated in India. Nearly 20,000 child rape cases were reported in 2016, according to official data, while a 2014 UN report said one in three rape victims was a minor.

Jammu and Kashmir is India's only Muslim-majority state, but the southern Jammu region -- where the rape and murder took place -- is Hindu-dominated.

On Monday hundreds of police were on duty in Pathankot for the trial. Wary of new protests, security was also heavy in Kathua town and surrounding Muslim areas.
Police kill eight Students Islamic Movement of India members after their prison escape in Bhopal, India.