‘Kill them all’: Tape stirs Simi row

Police personnel deployed in Bhopal after security is beefed up in the city in the wake of the killing of Simi operatives. (Photo: PTI)

An audio clip detailing purported communication between the police at ground zero and their seniors at the control room during the October 31 encounter killing of eight suspected Simi activists after they fled the city jail here, has revealed that a person — apparently from the control room — told cops on the ground to “kill them all”.

A voice in the clip, which has gone viral days after the incident, was heard saying, “Ek ko to zinda Rakhna zaroori hai (it is necessary to keep one of them alive)”. In reply to this, he was told “ sabko nipta do (kill them all)”.

The audio clip, which goes on for nine minutes and 58 seconds, goes like this:

Cop 1: There are five targets. We are after them.

Cop 2: Don’t withdraw. Don’t spare anyone. Surround them and finish them. No one should remain alive.

Cop 3: They have opened fire.

Reply: We must retaliate.

Another cop’s voice: Five were killed.

Reply: Congratulation.

A voice was heard amidst the conversion: One of them should be kept alive.

Reply: How much will be spent on treatment. Kill them all before “Saheb” comes. We are reaching there.

Another cop: People will praise MP police even after ten years.

Another cop: Media has not reached yet. They don’t have guts.

Superintendent of police, crime investigation department, Anurag Sharma, who is probing the encounter killing incident, neither confirmed nor denied the authenticity of the audio clip. “This will also be probed,” Mr Sharma said.