October 2016 Bhopal encounter

On 31 October 2016, eight undertrial prisoners of Bhopal Central Jail were killed in an encounter. They had allegedly escaped from the high security prison during the night. The prisoners were suspected terrorists of the Students' Islamic Movement of India.

Police account
According to the Madhya Pradesh police, the undertrials had escaped from the prison using bed sheets and wooden logs, after allegedly killing a jail security guard using spoons and plates.

Staged encounter
Various audio and video recordings suggest that the encounter killings may have been staged. Leaked police control room audio clips indicate that there were orders from higher-ups to kill all the prisoners. According to the recordings, police officers were angry over the killing of a fellow officer during the prison break and were concerned about repeated escapes by the prisoners. A leaked, low-quality video appears to show an officer shooting an injured escapee lying with fellow escapees. Senior officials praised the guards involved in the encounter.

Responses
The kin of the killed prisoners have come out accusing the police of staging the encounter. Zuleika Bee claimed that her brother was already threatened to be killed in a fake encounter by the jail authorities.

Pervez Alma, the lawyer of seven killed prisoners, said: "It is a fake encounter, a cold-blooded murder. It was pre-planned murder and I believe they did not escape the jail, but they were made to flee by the police".

The Shiv Sana mouth piece 'Samna' argued that the killings were justified even if it was a 'staged encounter'.