Jailed SIMI terror accused eat biryai for yrs, need fast-track courts: Shivraj Singh

BHOPAL: Batting for fast-track courts to try terror cases, MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who has vehemently defended police role in the killing of eight SIMI activists in an alleged encounter, has said the accused stay in jail for years before they are sentenced and "keep eating chicken biryani". "It takes years to sentence them. They keep eating chicken biryani (in jail)... they escape and indulge in more crimes and attacks.... If we can have fast track courts for corruption cases, why can't we have fast track courts for sentencing terrorists?," Chouhan said addressing a function yesterday. Chouhan today inspected the Central Jail from where eight SIMI activists escaped after killing a constable and were later gunned down by police on Monday. The opposition and families of the victims have questioned the police version. The Chief Minister was apprised of the security arrangements and he instructed the authorities to further tighten it. The CM was accompanied by Chief Secretary B P Singh, DGP Shukla and MP Jail Director General Sanjay Choudhary. Chouhan had yesterday slammed the "dirty politics" being played over the killing of eight SIMI operatives by police and said the slain men were "dreaded terrorists" who could have wreaked devastation. Speaking to reporters after paying tributes to Head Constable Ramashankar Yadav, who was killed by the activists while escaping from the Bhopal Central Jail yesterday, Chouhan had said he was pained to see that certain politicians were making a "hue and cry over the terrorists but not saying a word of solace for the martyred policemen." "I am pained to see the kind of politics being played out. Some politicians are turning a blind eye to the sacrifices of the martyrs. They are unable to see the sacrifice of Ramashankar Yadav. These were the same terrorists who first killed Shivpratap Kushwaha (policeman) in Ratlam and then they murdered Sitaram Yadav (policeman) in Khandwa and now Ramashankar Yadav. "...had there been some solidarity and sympathy for the martyred jawans...I would have understood. But, they are playing vote-bank politics over incidents like these," he had told reporters. The CM added that those killed were "dreaded terrorists who could have wreaked devastation if they had been fully successful in escaping."