Bhopal Central Prison

Forty-two prisoners of the Bhopal Central Jail, several of them serving life sentences for murders, are undergoing a paramedical course with authorities claiming that it might be a first-of-its-kind initiative for any jail in the country.

At the Bhopal Central Jail, where eight members of the banned Students' Islamic Movement of India or SIMI managed a daring prison break last week before being gunned down hours later, around 80 guards are "missing".

The lawyer of the eight SIMI terror-accused killed in an encounter by the Madhya Pradesh police has demanded a CBI investigation alleging that their jailbreak hours before they were killed was a set-up.

He watched his colleague die after members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) slit his throat with a sharpened steel plate before escaping from the Bhopal Central Prison on Sunday night.

While a video showed prisoners who escaped from a Bhopal jail being shot at close range, raising serious questions about the police's action, the Minister of Jails for Madhya Pradesh told NDTV that "You should praise us for killing the accused even though they escaped" while admitting to "lapses".

"Zinda Hai, Maaro" - he is alive, shoot him - a policeman is heard saying in one of the mobile phone videos that have emerged after the killing of eight terror suspects from the banned Students' Islamic Movement of India or SIMI on Monday, hours after their dramatic prison-break.

Eight members of the banned group Students' Islamic Movement of India or SIMI were killed on Monday hours after they escaped from a high security prison in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal after slitting the throat of a guard using a sharp weapon made from steel plates.

After successfully manufacturing a 200 litres solar water heater to promote use of green energy, the prisoners are now trying their hand at preparing a 2,000 litre capacity to meet the needs of Central Jail, officials said.

Forty-two prisoners of the Bhopal Central Jail, several of them serving life sentences for murders, are undergoing a paramedical course with authorities claiming that it might be a first-of-its-kind initiative for any jail in the country.

At the Bhopal Central Jail, where eight members of the banned Students' Islamic Movement of India or SIMI managed a daring prison break last week before being gunned down hours later, around 80 guards are "missing".

The lawyer of the eight SIMI terror-accused killed in an encounter by the Madhya Pradesh police has demanded a CBI investigation alleging that their jailbreak hours before they were killed was a set-up.

He watched his colleague die after members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) slit his throat with a sharpened steel plate before escaping from the Bhopal Central Prison on Sunday night.

While a video showed prisoners who escaped from a Bhopal jail being shot at close range, raising serious questions about the police's action, the Minister of Jails for Madhya Pradesh told NDTV that "You should praise us for killing the accused even though they escaped" while admitting to "lapses".

"Zinda Hai, Maaro" - he is alive, shoot him - a policeman is heard saying in one of the mobile phone videos that have emerged after the killing of eight terror suspects from the banned Students' Islamic Movement of India or SIMI on Monday, hours after their dramatic prison-break.

Eight members of the banned group Students' Islamic Movement of India or SIMI were killed on Monday hours after they escaped from a high security prison in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal after slitting the throat of a guard using a sharp weapon made from steel plates.

After successfully manufacturing a 200 litres solar water heater to promote use of green energy, the prisoners are now trying their hand at preparing a 2,000 litre capacity to meet the needs of Central Jail, officials said.