New Delhi: Raising doubts over the Bhopal encounter, Swaraj Abhiyan on Tuesday demanded a time bound court-monitored probe of the encounter.
In a statement, Swaraj Abhiyan said the within hours of escape, all eight SIMI operatives were killed in an encounter with Madhya Pradesh police which has left many questions unanswered. While the Bhopal IG said that the operatives were killed in retaliatory firing, the state’s ATS chief told TV channels that they were unarmed. Video recordings of the “encounter” released on TV channels also add to this confusion.
It said a court monitored time bound independent probe be ordered into the circumstances leading to and officials responsible for the jailbreak as well as the veracity and the necessity of the encounter be shared with the nation at the earliest.
It further said that what is further worrying is that as questions are being asked, the Government and its allies are targeting those who question. It is alarming that an ‘encounter’ is being presented as a normal policing practice and anyone who asks questions about this incident is suspect. Madhya Pradesh Government under Shivraj Singh Chauhan has a history of “deaths” in Vyapam. In such light, it is quite expected that the recent jail break and subsequent encounter with a lot of unanswered questions be treated with suspicion. It is imperative that the State Government comes clean rather than trying to silence the people asking questions.