An audio clip allegedly featuring walkie-talkie conversations of Madhya Pradesh police officials handling their "encounter" with SIMI operatives early this week has surfaced, fuelling further suspicion that cops were keen to kill ? not capture alive ? the eight men who allegedly escaped from jail.

The tape, which is now available on social media, indicates the SIMI men were carrying arms.

The audio clip comes after quite a few videos of the alleged Monday morning "police encounter" with the eight activists of the banned Islamic organisation went viral. The men, who were said to have jumped Bhopal Central Jail on Diwali night, were killed near Malikheda on the outskirts of the state capital.

The audio conversation reportedly involves a senior police official, the personnel at police control room (PCR) and the police officials present at the encounter site at Khijradev village under Gunga police station.

The senior police official asks on the walkie-talkie whether all the five (of the eight) men were fleeing together. "Kya paanchon saath me bhaag rahe hain", (Are all the five escaping together?) goes the question. To this, one of the police officials at the encounter site responds in the positive: "Haan, paanhcon saath me bhaag rahe hain."(Yes, the five are together")

The senior police official then tells them not to back off and kill them after rounding them up: "Bilkul piche nahi hatna hai. Gherke poora kardo kaam tamaam" (Don't back off...Surround them and finish them).

One police officials then says the SIMI men were firing at them.

To this, the senior official tells to "do retaliatory firing after taking a proper position". He then asks his colleagues not to spare the men if they have fired?and further informs the cops that another police party was reaching the spot. "Proper position lekar fire karo, jisse crossfire na ho," ( Take proper position and then fire to avoid crossfiring) he says.

After a few seconds, a police official at the site says they have killed five of the SIMI men. The senior official congratulates the cops, and says that they were about to reach the location.

One of the police officials at the site says that they have rounded the remaining ones at the top of the hillock where they were standing.

A police official at the PCR seeks confirmation on whether the five were dead. Yes, says a police official at the site.

The senior official again congratulates them: "Shabash. Bache huye teeno ko bhi nahi chodna hai, maar dalo" (Well done. Don't spare the other three, kill them). And so on goes the conversation with the outcome that all eight SIMI operatives get killed.