BHOPAL: Congress leader Arif Masood and Journalist Avdesh Bharagava filed Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in High Court demanding probe by HC sitting judge into jailbreak.
Bharagava said, “The jail administration admits that CCTV cameras were not functioning for the last three months so why they were not repaired. Secondly, SIMI operatives were collecting pieces of wood from bougainvillea plants to use them as ladder. Now question is what jail administration was doing.”
Bhargava said, “Two jail officials were on leave for the last three weeks. Then who was looking after the jail affairs. Shoes which SIMI men were having matched with policemen’ shoes, so it shows that something is fishy as it may not be coincidence. All SIMI men after escape were found assembled at one place. It is not possible as those who escapes from jail, do not move together in one direction. Always, they move in different direction.”
Arif Masood said, “It is our beyond imagination that why state government is not ready for judicial probe into matter. We are demanding judicial probe as ISO certified jail lacked facilities and other things so prisoners escaped.”
“There are 250 CCTV camera and Gwalior based private agency has been assigned their maintenance. So why these cameras were not properly maintained and repaired if they were not functioning, Masood said, adding, “Call details of jail superintendent, two deputy superintendents, two assistant superintendents should also be summoned.”
No judicial magistrate in SIMI men’s postmortem, counsel cries foul :
The post-mortem of activists of the Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) gunned down by the cops was performed against the norms in the absence of a judicial magistrate. This was revealed by SIMI activists’ counsel Pervez Alam who said the collector, doctors and jail administration will be made accused in the matter. All the SIMI operatives who were killed in an encountered at Manikheda on Monday were undertrial in judicial custody in jail. Under such circumstances, death, custodial death and encounters should be reported to court or concerning magistrate who signed for the judicial custody.
They were shot dead on October 30, but the copy of FIR and postmortem report were not submitted in the court or to concerning judicial magistrate till November 3. The jail authority or administration sidelined the judiciary with the blatant mistake.
Advocate Pervez Alam said, “I have filed an application in the CJM court seeking permission to go to jail with magistrate to interrogate remaining SIMI operatives who have launched hunger strike. The facilities, which are due to be provided as per jail manual, have been curtailed in the name of interrogation. It is a matter of serious concern.”
Alam said, “SIMI men were killed in the encounter on October 31, but till November 3 the copy of FIR and postmortem report have not been submitted in the court or the judicial magistrate concerned. With the shortcoming the jail authority or administration is sidelining the judiciary.”
