Cong stages walk-out over Bhopal jailbreak

BHOPAL: The opposition Congress on Monday staged a walkout in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly alleging that the jailbreak by eight SIMI operatives last year was result of the state government’s failure to ensure the security in prisons.

Eight SIMI men awaiting trial escaped from the high security Bhopal Central Jail on October 30 last year after killing a prison guard. They were subsequently killed in an alleged encounter with police.

Raising the issue during the Question Hour, Shailendra Patel (Congress) said the district administration officials had not inspected the jail even once in the last two year, despite it being mandatory to do once in every three months.

“This shows the lapses on the part of the state government towards security of jail, which resulted in the jailbreak by SIMI operatives on the night of Diwali last year,” he alleged.

Patel said that DIG (Jails) also did not carry out the routine inspection according to the jail manual.

Replying to a question by Patel on the issue, the Minister for Jails, Kusum Singh Mehedle, admitted that no inspection was carried out at the Bhopal Central Jail by the Collector or any other officer of the district administration two years prior to jailbreak incident.

Pressed for further details, the minister said that the district administration officers inspected Bhopal Central Jail on December 7 and December 22 last year.