8 escaped SIMI terrorists killed in gunfight: Bhopal police

Bhopal, Oct 31: All eight terrorists of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) who escaped from Bhopal Central Jail were killed in a gunfight on the outskirts of the city, police said on Monday.

"All eight SIMI terrorists were killed in an encounter near Manikhedi Pathar village," a senior police officer told IANS.

According to police, the terrorists were killed in cross-fire about 30 km north of Bhopal, within 10 hours of the jailbreak.

The SIMI men had escaped Bhopal Central Jail between 12 a.m. and 2 a.m. on Monday, after scaling the walls of jail and killing a guard. They took another guard hostage, state Home Minister Bhoopendra Singh told reporters earlier on Monday. 

The men had broken the gates of their cell and scaled the jail walls using bedspreads.

The names of seven of the SIMI terrorists are: Sheikh Mujeeb, Majid Khalid, Akeel, Khilchi, Zakir Salikh, Mehboob and Amjad.

Four among them were notorious criminals involved in dacoity, loot and treason. They had earlier escaped from Khandwa Jail and were later arrested from Odisha, police said.

After news of the escape, the Madhya Pradesh Police sounded a high alert through the state. State borders were sealed immediately.

Security was tightened and a search operation launched to nab the terrorists, Singh said.