A video shot on a mobile phone purporting to show the undertrials who escaped from Bhopal Central Jail on Monday seems to depict five of the eight men expressing a willingness to surrender to the police.
The video, shot at the spot where the men were eventually killed, seems to shows five of them standing on a rock outcrop. A policeman radios back to the control room with the information that five of the men were willing to talk, while three were trying to sneak away. The policeman then orders his colleagues to surround the suspects. Some of the men can be seen raising their hands, indicating a desire to surrender.
The eight men, alleged members of the banned group Student's Islamic Movement of India, had escaped from Bhopal Central Jail early on Monday after killing a security guard.
The video emerges even as the Madhya Pradesh administration has put out contradictory versions of what happened. The state home minister said that the men had only sharpened spoons and plates as weapons. But the police claimed that the men had guns and engaged the security forces in crossfire.
An earlier video had shown the Madhya Pradesh police shooting the men at close range. It was unclear whether some of the men were still alive at the time.
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