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    Bhopal jailbreak brings security arrangements into question at ISO-certified prison

    Considered to be modern, security arrangements at the Bhopal Central Jail - which has also been certified by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 9001:2015 for quality - have come into question following jailbreak by eight Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) ultras after killing a prison official.

    Bhopal jailbreak brings security arrangements into question at ISO-certified prison
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    Police at the encounter site at Acharpura village after the STF killed 8 SIMI activists

    Bhopal

    Nearly 30 terrorists - including both convicted and under trial prisoners - are lodged in the jail. Of them, eight SIMI activists escaped in the wee hours of Monday but were neutralised within hours by police in an encounter. Official sources said SIMI extremists - including their leader Abu Faisal - lodged in various jails across the state were shifted to the Central Jail recently. Their court hearing was also being conducted through video conferencing due to security considerations. 

    Jail sources said that the prison - where underworld don Abu Salem and his actress-girlfriend Monica Bedi had spent time in a fake passport case - has a capacity to lodge about 2,000 inmates. However, nearly 2,500-3,000 prisoners are lodged in the jail at present. 

    Outside support suspected: Prison officials

    Prison officials and police believe the jailbreak was inconceivable without outside support. SIMI ultras carefully chose Deepavali night to escape when the duty of jail guard is changed. They escaped after fatally stabbing prison official Ramashankar in the neck and tying up another. The ultras used bed-sheets to scale a wall and broke a bolt on an outer door and also part of a wall. 

    Prison sources admitted that the jail administration is in the dark regarding the use of bed-sheets as ropes and spoons and plates as weapons. Several other questions related to security are being raised.

    Former Congress vice president Manak Agrawal said that SIMI activists’ escape was a failure on the part of the jail administration and seems impossible without prison personnel being in league with the ultras? despite a similar jailbreak in 2013 in Khandwa. He said that the state regime should take the matter seriously and initiate strict action against those responsible.

    The jailbreak revived memories of a similar escape in 2013 by six SIMI activists and one another prisoner in Khandwa. While the other prisoner was arrested a short while after, all six SIMI extremists were apprehended later.  

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