Thaindian News

Mumbai, June 11 (IANS) The Samajwadi Party Monday demanded that the Maharashtra government pay compensation of Rs.2.5 million to the family of terror accused Mohammed Qateel Jaffer Siddiqui who was killed inside Pune jail last Friday.

SP state president and legislator Abu Asim Azmi also sought a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the incident since there is no clarity on the matter though four days have elapsed since the killing.

“The state government must immediately order a CBI probe into this incident and it should be carried under the supervision of the court,” he urged, saying that Siddiqui had been killed when he was in judicial custody.

Azmi alleged that Siddiqui had apprehended a threat to his life while in prison.

“This became apparent when I spoke to his family after the incident. A few days ago, Siddiqui’s wife had spoken to him when he mentioned (to her) that it could be their last conversation,” he claimed.

Siddiqui, a suspected Indian Mujahiddeen operative and an accused in the Pune and Bangalore blasts, was Friday morning found strangulated to death in the high-security Yerawada Central Jail.

Home Minister R.R. Patil ordered a CID probe and suspended jail superintendent S.V. Khatavkar for negligence of duty.

Though preliminary investigations pointed to a gang-war among members of rival mafia gangs lodged in the prison, so far there has been clear outcome of the ongoing probe by various agencies.

The incident raised serious questions over the security set-up in this historic jail, among the oldest in the country and third largest in Maharashtra.

Siddiqui was nabbed by the Delhi Police’s Anti-Terrorist Squad in the national capital November 2011.