Bhopal encounter kills all the remaining suspects of Pune blast case

Bhopal encounter kills eight SIMI members. Three of them suspects of Pune blast case of 2014. ATS wanted custody of the three suspects.

Yesterday, the Madya Pradesh police conducted an alleged encounter killing eight members of the banned organization SIMI, including three suspects in the 2014 Pune bomb blast case, after they escaped the Bhopal Central Jail.  

Ahmed Ramzan Khan, Zakir Hussain alias Sadiq and Shaikh Mehboob alias Guddu alias Ismail who got killed in this encounter were wanted in the case related to the low-intensity blast on July 10, 2014, in the parking lot of Faraskhana police station in which five people were injured. Also, the famous Dagdusheth Halwai Ganesh temple is adjacent to the spot of the bomb blast.

Earlier, the other two suspects, in this case, namely Mohammad Aizazuddin and Mohammad Aslam, were killed in an encounter in Telangana last year.

An Anti-Terrorism Squad official probing into the Pune blast case stated that they were trying to get custody of the three SIMI members, but could not get it as the accused were facing several cases in Madhya Pradesh itself.

"With all five suspects, including the three who were killed on Monday, now killed in encounters, the case is likely to be closed," said the ATS officer.

"Had we got the custody of these three, we would have been able to establish the local links of these suspects. However, now that all three suspects are dead, it seems the case might be closed," he said.