All eight members of the Students of Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) who escaped from the Bhopal Central Jail have been killed in an encounter with a special Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in Eintkhedi village.
They were identified as — Amzad, Zakir Hussain Sadiq, Mohammad Salik, Mujeeb Shaikh, Mehbood Guddu, Mohammad Kalid Ahmed, Aqeel and Majid, an official said.
These activists had escaped around 2-3 am after killing a head constable by slitting his throat with a steel plate and glass after overpowering him.
A high alert had been sounded following the jail break, even as the Union Home Ministry sought a report from the Madhya Pradesh government. This was the second major jail break by operatives of banned SIMI in three years after the sensational escape by seven members of the group from a jail in Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh in 2013.
Meanwhile security has been tightened to avoid such lapses in future.
SIMI, accused of carrying out several attacks and having links with Pakistan-based terror groups, was banned in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks.