Clamour for inquiry into Bhopal ‘encounter’ grows; MP govt says no need

Sravani Sarkar

NewsBits.in

Bhopal: Even as clamour for probe into the killing of eight Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) operatives grew across nation, the Madhya Pradesh government has clearly said that there was no need for inquiry into the incident.

Every police encounter is subject to magisterial probe, but different political parties and activists have demanded high-level probe by raising questions into the authenticity of the claimed encounter at Bhopal.

Soon after the eight SIMI men, who had earlier escaped from the high-security Bhopal central jail in wee hours were gunned down on outskirts of Bhopal on Monday, questions were raised about the ‘encounter’.

Later in the day, three video clips emerged and went viral on the social media, adding to the list of questions raised on the way the SIMI undertrials escaped from Bhopal jail and were killed within eight hours.

The Congress national general secretary Digvijaya Singh, MP Congress president Arun Yadav and MP unit of Communist Party of India (Marxist) were among the first to raise questions and demand a fair probe.

By Tuesday, a string of national leaders of opposition parties including Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, CPI(M)’s Brinda Karat, leader of opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge were among those who demanded that an inquiry be conducted into the incident.

Earlier, many activists and senior journalists from across country had raised questions on the encounter and called for probe. Former Supreme Court judge Markendey Katju went to the extent of terming the encounter as fake directly and suggesting hanging of the involved policemen.

In Bhopal, Congress leader Arif Masood met the MP governor OP Kohli and submitted a memorandum demanding fair probe into the killings.

However, talking to media, the state home minister Bhupendra Singh said there was no need for a probe into the encounter and the National Investigative Agency (NIA) would be probing the jailbreak.

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan slammed the opposition parties for politicizing the incident and failing to respect the martyrdom of head constable Ramashankar Singh. He visited the slain policeman’s family and participated in his funeral procession.

Meanwhile, the official order on NIA probe into the jailbreak was yet to be issued by the Madhya Pradesh till filing of this report.