Bhopal: Eight terrorists of banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) broke out of Bhopal Central Jail after killing a guard, state Home Minister said on Monday, October 31.

Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Bhoopendra Singh said, “Eight SIMI terrorists managed to escape jail on late Sunday night after killing one guard and taking another hostage. Madhya Pradesh Police is on high alert”.

The state border was sealed following the jail break, security was tightened and a search operation is on to nab the terrorists, the Home Minister said. Singh also accepted that the incident points to a major security lapse. The jail break took place between 12 and 2 a.m. on Sunday night when the state capital was celebrating Diwali.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had recently instructed for more stringent security arrangements at all state facilities.

This was the second major jail break by operatives of banned SIMI in three years after the sensational escape by seven members of the group from a jail in Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh in 2013. The seven SIMI men had made an audacious escape from the district jail in Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh after scaling a 14-foot wall. While one prisoner surrendered the next day and another was caught in December 2013 from Barwani in Madhya Pradesh. A third was killed in an encounter with Telangana Police on April 5, 2015 but the four continued to evade police for three years till their arrest in February 2016 in Rourkela in Odisha.

All states neighbouring Madhya Pradesh have been specifically told to remain alert and keep special vigil along their borders with Madhya Pradesh, sources said. Central security officials were in regular touch with the state police officials and providing inputs to help nab the escapes. The Home Ministry also asked the Madhya Pradesh government to send a detailed report about the jail break, whether there was any lapse on the part of the jail administration and the steps taken to check such incidents.