Members of the banned Islamic outfit SIMI who escaped from Bhopal Central Jail were shot dead in an encounter at Eintkhedi village on the outskirts of Bhopal.
Police said the men were washing their faces in a river when villagers saw them and informed the police.The Anti Terrorist Squad then arrived at the spot and the militants were gunned down.
All escapees were facing treason charges and were identified as-Amjad, Zakir Hussain Sadiq, Mohammad Salik, Mujeeb Shaikh, Mehbood Guddu, Mohammad Kalid Ahmed, Aqeel and Majid.
Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Bhupendra Singh said five officials of the jail had been suspended for letting the activists escape.
Singh accepted that the incident points to a major security lapse. Following the jail break, security was tightened for other prisoners.
The militants fled the jail between 2am and 2.15am on Monday morning. The militants tied one security guard, killed a security guard with a “steelplate and glass” and fled the jail by scaling the high wall using a rope made from bed sheets.
Students Islamic Movement of India is an Islamist fundamentalist organisation that was formed in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, in April 1977.
Government banned the organisation in 2006
