Custodial Killings in Bhopal

On the morning of 31 October, eight Muslim undertrials—Amjad Khan, Mehboob alias Guddu, Zakir Hussain, Mohammad Salik, Akeel Khilji, Mohammad Khalid, Mujeeb Shaikh and Majid—accused in Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI)-related cases were shot dead by the Madhya Pradesh (MP) Police. The eight had allegedly escaped from the Bhopal Central Jail, were armed and dangerous, and the police had no option but to kill them. The facts recounted by the police about the jailbreak have since been contested. How could the eight inmates scale a 30-foot high wall, and evade the surveillance of watch towers and security cameras? The absence of arms and ammunition, photographs of the undertrials with arms raised as if they had surrendered, policemen shooting at the fallen men, contradictory statements from authorities, and bullet injuries primarily above the waist, are only some of the evidences that point towards what looks like a cold-blooded custodial killing.

Of the eight killed, three were earlier along with six SIMI undertrial (Abu Faisal, Aijajuddin, Aslam, Amjad, Mehboob, and Zakir Hussain) escapees from the Khandwa jailbreak of October 2013.