SIMI encounter: Shiv Sena slams oppn for meddling with national security

Mumbai [India], Nov 2 (ANI): Dubbed the encounter of SIMI terrorists in Bhopal as necessary, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday said that the opposition parties, which are politicizing this matter, are lowering the morale of security forces and meddling with the issues of national security. Showering praise on the Bhopal Police, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said the eight SIMI terrorists, who were gunned down after their escape, had a history full of heinous crime. "This is not an issue to be politicized. This is a matter to feel proud. The Bhopal Police did a great job. I agree that it was an important encounter. The people, who are politicising such issues, should know that they are playing with national security and are damaging the morale of our police forces," said Raut. "They were SIMI terrorists. The eight people, who broke the prison, were not normal people. If you look at their history, you would know what all heinous crimes they have committed. If they ran away and after that the police killed them in an encounter, there is no need to politicise the incident," he added. The opposition parties have been cornering the BJP ruled- Madhya Pradesh Government over the killing of eight people from the banned SIMI group. Congress leader Digvijaya Singh yesterday questioned the authenticity of the encounter video. The former Madhya Pradesh chief minister wondered as to what is the reason that only Muslims break out of jail and not Hindus while stating that he was against all those playing politics in the name of religion. The Communist Party of India (CPI) dubbed the encounter as "dubious" and demanded an explanation from the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led government. In response, Chouhan condemned the opposition parties for indulging in vote bank politics. "I don't know what sort of political mudslinging has begun. Few leaders of our nation cannot see the martyrdom of our soldiers. They cannot see the sacrifice of Ramashankar Yadav. They are the ones who murdered Shiv Prasad Kushwaha. They killed Sitaram Yadav in Khandwa. Some people are doing vote bank politics on this matter which is highly condemnable. One must refrain from doing this," he said. The Chief Minister said it is extremely unfortunate that they do not utter a word about the martyrdom of the soldiers. On Monday, eight terrorists of the banned group SIMI were killed in an encounter after escaping from the Bhopal Central Jail. (ANI)