Indian police ‘encounter’ of undertrials raises eyebrows

The eight under-trials who had escaped from breach-proof ISO-certified prison in the capital Bhopal of the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh after slitting the throat of a prison guard were gunned down in an “encounter” hours later by police in Acharpur village on the outskirts of the city on Monday.
The gunning down of the under-trials, who were members of banned SIMI, (Students Islamic Movement of India) has raised many eyebrows as there are many loopholes in the police version of the incident account.
Many political parties and social organizations in India have condemned the gruesome cold blooded murder incident dubbing it as a fake, dubious and “stage managed” encounter. It has become another extension of dubious records of such heinous crimes by the law enforcing agencies in India.
However, the rightist Bharatiya Janata Party, (BJP) ruled Madhya Pradesh Government’s Home Minister Bhupendra Singh has said that the encounter is unquestionable and it will not be probed by NIA, (National Investigation Agency). It will investigate only the jail break and how it happened. However, two videos purportedly of the ‘encounter’ and a string of unanswered questions have led human rights activists and opposition parties to doubt the genuineness of the police claims.
India’s National Human Rights Commission has sent notices to the Madhya Pradesh state’s chief secretary, director general of police, director general of prisons & inspector general of prisons for the killing of the alleged SIMI activists.
Meanwhile, the Opposition parties attacked the BJP government. The Congress, CPI-M, SDPI and AIMIM among others questioned the veracity of the government and police’s claims, and sought a judicial probe into the encounter.
The Social Democratic Party of India, (SDPI), national president A. Sayeed in a statement has said that it is very astonishing and surprising as to how the 8 SIMI jail inmates were able to break through three-layered security ring of the Bhopal Central jail. 
Meanwhile, it may be mentioned that a number of discrepancies have remained unanswered about the police “encounter”. They are: (i) How did the SIMI men get access to branded clothes, sports shoes, wrist watches and bands that they sported when killed? (ii) What weapons did the operatives exactly use in the alleged encounter with police? (iii) How and where did they procure these alleged weapons as they were gunned down within 10 km of jail in 10 hours of escaping? (iv) Why were the escaped operatives moving around together, something that would make them highly suspicious? (v) If they could procure weapons, why did not they procure a vehicle to make quick escape? Why did they move toward open space where they couldn’t hide?

Source: Arab News