The National Human Rights Commission on Tuesday questioned the actions of the Madhya Pradesh government, the state police and prison officials with regard to the deaths of eight members of the banned Students of Islamic Movement of India in Bhopal. The commission sent notices to all three authorities after reading media reports on the encounter in which the men were killed, raising concerns about police action and judicial killings, PTI reported.

The state’s chief secretary, director general of police, along with the director general and inspector general of the state prison department have been asked to respond to the notices in six weeks. The NHRC said, “Specific guidelines have been issued by it [the commission], which have been conveyed to all the states/union territories for compliance in the matters of encounter.”

The SIMI members escaped from prison between 2 am and 3 am on Monday after murdering a security guard. They were killed hours later. Their families have demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation probe in the matter. The National Investigation Agency will look into how the undertrials were able to flee, while former director general of police Nandan Dubey will inquire into the security lapses on the part of the jail authorities.