Bhopal Jailbreak: Unanswered Questions in Killing of 8 Simi Men

The probe report left some key questions unanswered.

The probe report of Bhopal jailbreak and encounter of eight SIMI activists was tabled in the state Assembly on the first day of Monsoon session on Monday, 25 June.

The probe panel headed by Justice (retired) SK Pandey has given a clean chit to the state police and Anti-Terrorists Squad citing “the use of force resulting in the death of the escaped persons was quite inevitable and quite reasonable under the prevailing circumstances.”

The report reads, "The encounter on 31 October 2016 done by police was reasonable under the prevailing circumstances. The action of the police was in consonance of the provision of law under Sections 41 and 46 (2) (3) of the CrPC,” the report said adding that, “The use of force resulting in the death of the escaped persons was quite inevitable and quite reasonable under the prevailing circumstances.”

Eight SIMI activists Mohd Saliq, Zakir Hussain, Amjad Khan, Mehboob Guddu, Mohd Aqeel Khilji, Mujeeb Sheikh, Mohammad Khalid Ahmad and Abdul Majid were gunned down by the police on a hilltop at Eitkhedi village – 12 kilometer from Bhopal city eight hours after they escaped from ISO-certified Bhopal Central Jail by slitting the throat of a guard name Ramashankar Yadav with a sharp edged weapon.

The probe report which was tabled on Monday is yet to be made public but according to sources, the major questions remain unanswered.

The Unanswered Questions

1. The statement of the only eye-witness of the incident, Chandan Kumar Tilanthe, a guard, who was tied up by the SIMI men when he tried to stop them from escaping has no further details. The guard is the key to unearth the truth of the incident. Moreover, after few hours of the Jail Break, he was untraceable.
2. Why were only four out of 42 CCTV cameras installed in the jail premise not functioning on the Diwali night when the jailbreak happened? (These cameras would have captured the alleged movements of the suspects).
3. Did the suspects receive any insider’s help in scaling the 30-feet-high wall of ISO-certified and the most secure jail of the state?
4. Why were the cells, in which the undertrial SIMI prisoners were lodged, left unguarded?
5. A prahri Ramashankar Yadav (jail guard) was killed in cold blood. Why did the jail authorities not find it alarming?
6. After the escape, who has supplied fresh cloths, foods and weapons to SIMI men to defend themselves?
7. How did the prisoners get access to weapons (.315 bore and 12 bore country-made pistols and sharp edge knives)?
8. If they had connections to get weapons, why couldn’t they get a vehicle to escape and why were they moving together rather than dispersing and could not go beyond 10 kilometres in eight hours after the escape?
9. How did three cops receive knife wounds when bullets were used in the encounter? And why were the wounded policemen brought to public?

The report seems to have ignored the postmortem report, that mentioned that all the entry wounds on the suspects’ bodies measured between 0.4 to 0.5 cm in diameter, which is consistent with small calibre weapons. It means that the bullets were pumped in from a close range.

The police claimed the encounter party used AK 47, Insas rifles and pistols. Had they been fired at from AK 47 or Insas rifles, the size of the entry wounds would have bigger in diameter. The slain SIMI suspects, according to the postmortem report, got bullet injuries either on the left and right sides of their chests, hips and backs or on their heads from a close range.

This shows that the police team perhaps did not make any attempts to catch the suspects alive. And they were fired at above their waists, which was in violation of the Supreme Court ruling that says that the police should fire below the waist.

A Flawed Probe Report?

Commenting on the issue, Minister for Jail Antar Singh Arya said that the judicial commission had done its job well and the government will look into its recommendations for strengthening security arrangements in jails.

"The probe panel had done its job and given a slew of recommendations like the state government should appoint a committee to examine the security measures to stop repetition of incidents of absconding and escaping of persons from jail. The department of jail has no institution of its own to impart an effective training to its officers and staff and so on. We welcome it and try to implement the recommendations to make jails more safe,” said Arya.

Replying to the questions of charges levelled by the Opposition parties he said, "They make hue and cry on every issue, their claims are baseless."

Later, he decided to remain mum on the question that the probe report did have justification of many incidents.

(The writer is a Bhopal-based freelance journalist and can be reached @MallickKakvi.)