Left corners MP Govt, calls SIMI terrorists' killing 'dubious, 'manufactured'

CPI(M) polit bureau member Brinda Karat has asked for an independent High Court probe into the matter

Calling the encounter of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) terrorists as entirely "dubious" and "manufactured", Communist Party of India (Marxist) polit bureau member Brinda Karat on Monday asked for an independent High Court probe into the matter.

Karat also criticised the ruling establishment for calling the under-trial prisoners as SIMI terrorists.

"The entire government version is highly dubious and suspicious and full of self-contradictory statements and, therefore, to get to the truth it is essential to have independent probe under the High Court judge and it should be time bound because nobody could believe of what seems to be an entirely manufactured version. I also want to say these are under trial prisoners and to call them SIMI terrorists is to subvert the law of this land," she told ANI.

Raising similar questions, CPI leader D Raja also asked for judicial probe into the matter and urged the Centre to ask for a detailed report from the Madhya Pradesh Government.

"It raises several questions. First, how such a breach could take place in a high security prison in Bhopal. It raises questions on the jail administration. Afterwards they were gunned down, how did the encounter take place, did they posses any arms, these all are serious questions which need to be answered. There should be a high-level judicial probe to go into all these questions. The Centre should question Madhya Pradesh. Whatever the state government has done so far, it is inadequate considering the gravity of the issue," Raja told ANI.

Eight terrorists of the banned group SIMI, who escaped from the Bhopal Central Jail after killing a guard, were gunned down in an encounter by the state police earlier in the day.

Yogesh Chaudhary, Inspector General of Bhopal, said the terrorists possessed weapons and were killed when they were trying to flee.

"They were killed in cross firing. It was a big challenge and the team accepted it properly," he said.