The Kerala High Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition filed by 11 accused in a case relating to the holding of a secret training camp of the outlawed Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) at Wagamon in Idukki in 2007 seeking a directive to shift them from a Bhopal jail to a prison in the State.
According to the petition, some of the accused while serving sentences in the Panayikulam case at the Central Prison at Viyyur had been transferred to a Sabarmati jail in connection with some criminal cases in Gujarat.
The Panayikulam case related to a secret meeting of the banned SIMI at Panayikulam in Aluva in 2006.
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At that time, the accused in the Wagamon case were languishing in the Sabarmati jail. While the trial in the Wagamon case was in progress through videoconferencing, all the accused were shifted from the Sabarmati prison to the Bhopal Central Prison in cases registered in Indore.
Worried about safety
The petitioners pointed out that they were worried about their safety as eight SIMI activists lodged in the Bhopal jail were shot dead in an encounter with the jail officials.
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Besides, the petitioners were being treated cruelly and tortured in the Bhopal jail. They were being denied their basic needs and facilities.
They also contended that as they were undertrial prisoners in the Wagamon case, shifting to a prison in the State would enable them to effectively participate in the trial.