A team of Intelligence Bureau and Madhya Pradesh Police on Saturday jointly interrogated SIMI activist Farhat,who was arrested after the shootout in Ratlam,amid fears that the banned organisation was getting active again. Shivpratap Singh,a young constable attached to the anti-terrorist squad,was shot dead and two other ATS policemen sustained injuries when armed SIMI activists 26-year-old Zakir Hussain and 21-year-old Mohammed Farhat Khan fired at them near the Ratlam Railway Station on Friday. Singh died on the way to Indore while Zakir,who had also sustained injuries,underwent surgery at Indores M Y Hospital on Saturday and his condition was reported to be out of danger. Farhat was remanded in police custody for five days and was interrogated,while Zakir was yet to be formally arrested. The police admitted that Zakir was injured by the shots fired by his accomplice. While the police party had only one weapon,both the SIMI activists had country-made pistols and almost succeeded in escaping after the exchange of fire. Ratlam Superintendent of Police Raman Singh Sikarwar said Zakir was hit when his accomplice fired at the policemen who had pinned him down. He denied the allegation that Farhat wanted to eliminate Zakir because the police had overpowered him. Zakir and Farhat were wanted in connection with the murder of another ATS constable Sitaram Yadav in Khandwa in November 2009 and were changing locations to escape arrest. The police said though they were aware that SIMI had sympathisers in Khandwa,Indore,Nagda and Ujjain among other places they believed the duo had taken shelter in Ratlam,which was not on their radar before. A CD and some literature was also seized by the police from the duo. The police had in the past arrested Farhats elder brother Arshad for his alleged involvement in the activities of the banned organisation.
