Eight undertrial young Muslim men, alleged to have ‘broken jail and escaped’, were killed in Bhopal by MP police on 31 October 2016. Shocking videos of the killings have come to the fore since the killings, which clearly show that the slain youth had no weapons with them and shows the police men repeatedly fired at the semi- conscious injured bodies lying on the ground to guarantee that they are dead. At pains to explain the killings, several contradictory statements have been issued by the Bhopal Police IG and MP State Home Minister. Protesting against these killings, several protesters gathered today at Jantar Mantar on 1 November demanding Supreme Court monitored investigation on the entire episode of Bhopal encounter. AISA and other organisations like BASO, Disha and ANHAD and students from JNU, DU, Jamia and AUD joined the protest. Protesters Raised Demand of SC Monitored Investigation in the Entire Episode of Bhopal Killings.
Addressing the protestors, Ashutosh Kumar, Delhi AISA State Secretary said, “We don’t believe the police version on the episode. The police persons who are seen to be firing at the lying bodies of the youth must be immediately suspended. A Supreme Court monitored investigation should be initiated on the entire incident including the murder of the police constable”. Sucheta De, National President, AISA said, “You kill Muslim youths and call them terrorist. From Gujarat to MP, the same model is being followed. Why are the undertrial youths being called terrorists? Why didn’t the MP police want the judicial process to end? Why were the eight men killed like this?”.
Protestors carried placards that termed the Bhopal encounter as the replay of the ‘Gujarat Model of Encounters’.
