SIMI Encounter: CID to Probe, STF Head Removed in Key Developments

The eight SIMI members who escaped from prison. (Photo: The Quint/Anant Maheshwari)

On Monday, eight SIMI members escaped from the Bhopal Central Jail. Within hours of their escape, they were tracked and shot dead by police forces.

However, several questions have been raised regarding the entire episode and what exactly went down.

• The Madhya Pradesh DGP formed a Special Investigating Team to probe the Bhopal encounter.
• The CID, led by IPS Anurag Sharma, will be heading the SIMI encounter probe. (CNN News 18)
• The Special Task Force(STF) chief, Sudhir Shahi, removed. Dr SW Naqvi will be the new STF chief.
• The National Human Rights Commission issued notices to the Chief Secretary, DGP, DG (Prisons) and IG (Prisons), and the government of Madhya Pradesh over the Bhopal encounter.
• A day after the police encounter, the SIMI operatives’ families have decided to approach the Madhya Pradesh high court seeking a CBI probe into what they dubbed as “cold-blooded murders”.
• Accusing the MP government of using police for fulfilling the RSS agenda, BSP supremo Mayawati demanded a judicial probe into the encounter.
• She said in a statement that the operatives were unarmed and “could have been arrested easily again but no attempts were made in this regard. Prima facie this matter appears suspicious.”

• Also hinting at the encounter being fake, Digvijay Singh made a controversial remark saying “Why do only Muslims break out of jail and not Hindus?”
• On the other hand, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan slammed the "dirty politics" being played over the killings and said the slain men were "dreaded terrorists" who could have wreaked devastation.
• National Investigation Agency (NIA) Director-General has briefed Home Minister Rajnath Singh on the whole situation. (Times Now)
• The NIA team reached Bhopal on Tuesday to take over the investigation of the jailbreak and encounter of the SIMI operatives. (CNN News18)

(With inputs from PTI and ANI)