'Non-MP' judge should probe SIMI encounter: NCP

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Tuesday demanded that a judge from outside Madhya Pradesh should probe the Bhopal SIMI encounter case.

NCP leader Majid Memon told ANI, "There is a need to have a judicial probe by a judge outside Madhya Pradesh who would independently and immediately start collecting evidence so that we are interested in knowing the truth."

"This whole episode has raised many questions, and therefore, the genuineness of this news is under suspicion. It is very difficult to believe that eight SIMI activists were able to kill a guard and run away from the prison. What about the other prison staff? Second, they were found in their private dress. When did they change their dress and how come they were not in their jail uniform when they were killed? None of eight has survived to make a statement," he added.

Madhya Pradesh Police is asserting that the escapees were neutralised in retaliatory fire and had a past history of attacking law enforcement officials in prison.

Bhopal Inspector General of Police Yogesh Chaudhary stated all the eight SIMI terrorists were killed in cross-firing and had a track record of being involved in serious crimes before.

"We garnered all possible resources and launched search and patrol parties after we got intelligence that around seven to eight people were seen by locals. It was difficult to locate them as the unequal terrain was a disadvantage, but soon our team was fired upon when we challenged the suspects," he said.

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 yesterday.

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.