SIMI terrorists escape from Bhopal jail; Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan suspends four jail officials

Bhopal: Eight terrorists of banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) broke out of Bhopal Central Jail after killing a guard.

The SIMI members escaped by jail by scaling the prison wall with the help of bed sheets.

Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Bhoopendra Singh confirmed the incident.

Madhya Pradesh Police is on high alert. The state border was sealed following the jail break, security was tightened and a search operation is on to nab the terrorists, the Home Minister said. Singh also accepted that the incident points to a major security lapse. 

"Eight SIMI activists escaped around 2-3 am by killing a jail security guard," DIG Bhopal Raman Singh told PTI.

The SIMI activists also killed a jail security guard and later scaled the jail walls with the help of bed sheets, he said.

They killed the guard by slitting his throat with steel plate and glass after overpowering him, the DIG said.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the administration is making all efforts to nab the SIMI terrorists. Acting tough the CM suspended DIG Jail, ADG Jail and two other prison officials.