EXCLUSIVE: Were SIMI Men ‘Caught’ in Bhopal Jail Before Encounter?

Sources exclusively told us that it’s suspected that the activists were caught within the jail before being killed.

The 8 SIMI members who escaped from prison. (Photo: The Quint/Anant Maheshwari)

Even as the Madhya Pradesh police and the state’s BJP leadership have spun an incredible story of a daring jailbreak by the eight alleged Students’ Islamic Movement of India activists in Bhopal, it is suspected that the undertrials were nabbed within the prison complex before being gunned down in Manikhedi Patthar village about 30 kms from the state headquarters.

While the police are tight-lipped about the entire “operation” that led to the elimination of the SIMI activists, three of whom had earlier escaped from Khandwa jail in August 2013, The Quint’s sources in Bhopal said that the undertrials tried to flee the jail after badly injuring a warder, Ramesh Shankar, who subsequently died.

After assaulting Shankar, the SIMI activists went past a billet (manned by one warder) but were nabbed some distance from the main entrance to the prison.

A source told <b>The Quint</b>

Also Read: 4 Killed SIMI Activists Had Learnt Bomb-Making in UP’s Bijnor

The source added that the presence of dry fruit, extra clothes and the country-made revolvers (katta) on the accused persons suggest “foul play” which the police and the state BJP establishment have sought to cover up.

The sources said that what is crucial is whether the 360 degree CCTV cameras were functioning properly.

If they were, there is no doubt that the so-called jailbreak would have been captured by the cameras.

Questions are also being raised over the SIMI activists managing to procure three kattas within eight to nine hours of their alleged escape from the prison.