By M M Desk
BHOPAL: Alleged of a prison break, the families of eight suspected Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) men, who were killed in ‘encounter afterwards, is planning to legally challenge the single-member panel report which exonerated the police.
The encounter took place hours after they escaped from the high-security Bhopal Central Jail and allegedly killed a security guard.
The probe panel submitted its report to state government in August 2017, but it was tabled by the government before the State Assembly on the first day of monsoon session on June 25, 2018.
Senior counsel Sajid Ali, who headed a team of lawyers that represented the kin of the deceased before the judicial commission headed by retired High Court judge SK Pandey, said the report submitted in the MP Assembly was one-sided.
“We sought cross-examination of witnesses, which was denied. We wanted to be present in the jail and at the alleged encounter site when the panel visited the place, but that too didn’t happen,” Sajad said to Indian Express.
At the time of encounter, many leaders including AIMIM supremo Asaduddin Owaisi had demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe and raised questions on the encounter.