Bhopal: Defending the MP government over the alleged encounter of 8 SIMI activists, Chairman of All India Anti-Terrorist Front (AIATF) Maninderjeet Singh Bitta on Thursday said he salutes Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the state police for killing terrorists. Former youth Congress leader Bitta, told media persons here, After I came to Madhya Pradesh I met Chief Minister Chouhan for the first time. I saluted Chouhan and MP police for killing the terrorists. Notably, eight SIMI activists were killed in an alleged police encounter on the city outskirts when they escaped from the Bhopal Central Jail after killing a security guard.
“I told the Chief Minister not to give statement that an inquiry will be conducted into the encounter,” he added, adding that jailbreak and lapses (leading to the escape of SIMI activist), should be probed but the fight (encounter) against the SIMI terrorists should not be investigated, he said. These slain terrorists were involved in bomb blasts, robbery and other heinous crimes in Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and other states, He claimed.
After these terrorists escaped from the central jail killing a constable, the life of public was at danger. If they would have been left at large, they might have killed many innocent people, he said, adding that the votebank politics should stop over terrorism. He (Digvijay Singh) had made attempt to withdraw my security when Congress was in power (at the Centre), Bitta alleged. I have been defeated by Congress leaders like Kapil Sibal, P Chidambaram and Digvijay Singh and not by bombs, he added.